The European Parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of an extension of 10 billion euros of the EU budget until 2027, in addition to the 66 billion proposed at the end of June by the Commission, to address multiple geopolitical crises. The text, which only expresses the position of the MEPs, was approved by a large majority. The decision, however, will rest with the Member States, which will have to negotiate and unanimously approve the revised multiannual budget, before submitting it to Parliament for the green light.
To address the consequences of the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which have increased financing needs, the European Commission proposed on June 20 an extension of the EU budget of 66 billion euros for the period 2024-2027, waiting for an agreement from the EU. end of the year. The additional 10 billion that MEPs demand refer to migration management, investments in new technologies to improve the competitiveness of the European economy and the reserve to respond to crises.
Debates planned for the end of the month in Brussels
Net contributors (Germany, France, etc.) to the Union budget are reluctant to contribute more to the fund, beyond the necessary support for Ukraine, while their national accounts are already affected by the economic slowdown. An exchange of opinions between the Twenty-Seven is planned during a summit of Heads of State and Government to be held on October 26 and 27 in Brussels.
The Spanish Secretary of State for European Affairs, Pascual Navarro-Ríos, whose country holds the biannual presidency of the EU Council until the end of the year, which brings together the 27 member countries, promised to work actively to reach a compromise. “The Council is fully committed to reaching an agreement as soon as possible,” he assured MEPs in Strasbourg. The elected Portuguese social democrat, Margarida Marques, co-sponsor of the text voted on Tuesday, welcomed this “compromise”, but it must still lead to an “ambitious response”, she stressed during a debate on Tuesday.
Including the European post-Covid recovery plan (NextGenerationEU), the EU budget approved in 2020 for the period 2021-2027 amounts to 2,018 million euros in current prices.
Source: BFM TV
