Speed up ratification of new EU revenues

The EPP Group calls on those EU Member States who have not yet given the green light to the new funding mechanism for the EU's Coronavirus Recovery Fund, to do so as soon as possible.

“How is it possible that only less than half of the Member States have ratified the Own Resources Decision? Now is not the time to deliver, it’s time to ratify. The longer the delay, the slower the recovery. The ratification is essential for the recovery of the EU and for the employment of young Europeans”, said José Manuel Fernandes MEP ahead of today's debate and vote on three associated Regulations that accompany the Own Resources Decision. Fernandes negotiated the EU own resources reform on behalf of the Parliament.

The EU needs new revenues to repay the costs of the new Recovery Fund. During the negotiations on the EU’s long-term budget 2021-2027, Parliament obtained a binding roadmap for the introduction of new sources of EU revenue. This roadmap is part of a legally-binding text, aligned with the EU's political priorities such as environmental sustainability and tax justice. It includes a digital tax to have tech giants contribute fairly, a plastic contribution for the use of non-recyclable plastic and a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism at the EU's external borders to prevent unfair competition by non-European climate polluters.

“Without new revenues, citizens will be burdened with taxes or cuts later on in the post-2027 long-term EU Budget. We must not pass the burden of the repayment to future European budgets and to the next generations”, Fernandes explained.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EPP Group was the first to call for a Recovery Fund because the crisis requires the biggest ever financial solidarity in Europe. The EPP Group welcomed the €750 billion Recovery Instrument as a powerful sign that solidarity is back at the heart of Europe.