VIDEO Agreement on the future EU budget (UPDATE) – Essential

The agreement includes the funds obtained by President Klaus Iohannis for Romania: the 46.3 billion of the future multi-annual budget (to this money will be added the more than 30 billion euros of the Recovery Plan on which we reached an agreement last night in the European Parliament Thus, we will reach the amount of approximately 80,000 million euros negotiated in July by President Iohannis) ”, wrote the PNL / EPP MEP Siegfried Mureșan, on his Facebook account.

According to him, “under pressure from the European Parliament, in addition to the amounts negotiated in the Council, the agreement brings more European funds into the future budget for important areas both for Romania and for the other Member States”:

• More funds for Erasmus university scholarships
• More funding for the European Health Program
• More funds for the Rights and Values ​​Program through which we defend the rule of law in the European Union
• More funds to protect the external borders of the European Union.

“The fact that we have reached an agreement now means that the money from the future Budget of the European Union will be able to be used without delay, from 1 January 2021,” the NLP MEP also wrote.

In the compromise, the parliament obtained 16 billion euros, in addition to the package agreed by the heads of state and government at the July summit, according to a press release from the EP Office in Romania. € 15 billion will strengthen flagship programs to protect citizens in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, provide opportunities for the next generation and uphold European values. € 1 billion will increase flexibility to meet future needs and crises.

The additional funds will mainly come from fines collected in the context of competition law (which companies must pay when they fail to comply with EU rules), in line with Parliament’s ongoing call to keep money generated by the Union. in the EU budget.

Thanks to this commitment, in real terms, the European Parliament triples, among other things, the EU4Health package, provides the equivalent of an additional year of Erasmus + funding and ensures a boost in research funding.

New own resources

Negotiators agreed with the principle that the recovery fund’s medium and long-term debt repayment costs should not be detrimental to well-established investment programs in the MFF and should not result in much more based on the GNI of the Member States. Therefore, the EP negotiators have drawn up a roadmap for the introduction of new own resources over the next seven years. This roadmap is included in the “interinstitutional agreement”, a legally binding text. In addition to the contribution of plastics from 2021, the roadmap includes an own resource based on the emissions trading scheme (ETS, from 2023, possibly linked to a border adjustment mechanism for carbon emissions). , a digital tax (from 2024) and an own resource based on the ITF, as well as a financial contribution from the business sector or a new resource based on the common consolidated corporate tax base (from 2026).

Checking how EU funds are spent on the recovery instrument: tighter budgetary control

Regarding the expenses related to the EU package for the new generation, Parliament has ensured that the three institutions will meet regularly to evaluate the implementation of the funds made available under Article 122. The expenses will be incurred in a transparent manner, and Parliament, together with the Council, will monitor any deviations from previously agreed plans.

The new generation EU is based on Article 122 of the EU Treaty, which does not give any role to the European Parliament. The EP negotiators also obtained a new procedure to establish a “constructive dialogue” between Parliament and the Council based on an assessment by the Commission, in order to agree on the budgetary implications of any new legislation proposed under Article 122 .

Horizontal themes: biodiversity goals, equal opportunities for women and men

Improved methodologies to monitor climate and biodiversity issues will be implemented to ensure that at least 30% of total spending in the EU’s Union and New Generation budget supports climate targets. In addition, 7.5% of annual spending should be dedicated to biodiversity targets from 2024 and 10% from 2026.

Another horizontal priority of the MFP will be the promotion of gender equality and integration, accompanied by an in-depth impact evaluation and monitoring of the programs according to gender equality criteria.

EP negotiating team for the next long-term EU budget and own resources reform

• Johan Van Overtveldt (ECR, Belgium), Chairman of the Committee on Budgets
• Jan Olbrycht (PPE, Poland), CFM co-rapporteur
• Margarita Marcas (S & D, Portugalia), CFM co-rapporteur
• José Manuel Fernandes (PPE, Portugal), co-rapporteur on own resources
• Valérie HANER (Renew Europe, France), co-rapporteur on own resources
• Rasmus Andresen (Versions / ALE, Germany)

Context

This draft agreement between the EP negotiating team and the Council Presidency has not yet been approved by the Council, the President of Parliament and the leaders of the political groups, and will be put to a vote in the Budgets Committee and in plenary .