The Council is amputating Europe's future

“The numbers still don’t add up. We cannot accept the Council’s new proposal, which falls short of what Europe needs to meet the challenges ahead,” declared Siegfried Mureșan MEP, EPP Group Vice-President and the European Parliament’s chief negotiator on the next long-term EU budget, as the Irish Council Presidency presented its negotiating box on the next MFF.

“In trying to please everyone, this proposal pleases no one. It cuts funding for new priorities such as defence and competitiveness compared with the Commission’s proposal, while leaving farmers and regions underfunded. The negotiating box reverses the Commission’s efforts to fund Europe’s new priorities.

At the same time, by disregarding Parliament’s proposals, the Irish Presidency’s basket of own resources risks failing on both counts: providing sufficient funding for Europe’s priorities and reducing pressure on national budgets.

Time is running out. Member States must now look beyond narrow national interests and focus on what Europe needs to deliver for its citizens. This means a moderate 10% increase in the EU budget to finance both traditional and new priorities, backed by a genuine set of efficient new own resources, such as a digital levy. Europe’s next budget must be guided by political vision, not a narrow bookkeeper’s mentality,” concluded Mureşan.