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Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
The Parliament’s two lead negotiators warned on Tuesday they would not even begin budget negotiations unless the Commission abandons its plan to centre EU spending on national reform plans that sideline MEPs.
At stake is how the bulk of the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) will be spent, just a day before the Commission is set to unveil the EU budget’s radical overhaul.
Under the proposed plan, two-thirds of the bloc’s €1.2 trillion budget, currently earmarked for regions (Cohesion) and farmers (CAP), would be channelled through national reform plans, negotiated between the Commission and EU countries.
Funds would be disbursed only after approval by the Commission and Council, removing the Parliament’s ability to weigh in on matters beyond the plans’ general guidelines. For MEPs, the idea is a non-starter.
“We reject any attempt to re-nationalise the EU budget,” said Siegfried Mureșan, co-lead on Parliament’s position and budget point man of Ursula von der Leyen’s centre-right EPP party, during a press conference.
“We will not accept, in any way, the path that the Commission wishes to take,” and it is “crystal clear” from Parliament’s mandate that they cannot accept the plans “under any circumstances,” said Carla Tavares, Parliament co-lead on behalf of the centre-left S&D group.
MEPs have long complained of being sidelined, as was the case in recent defence packages and the bloc's €650 billion COVID loan, which the reform-for-cash plan is modelled after. “We have seen since 2019 that this European Commission was not sufficiently preoccupied with democratic accountability, transparency,” and involving the parliament, said Mureșan.
The Commission argued that tailoring spending per country would greatly reduce administrative burdens and strengthen EU priorities.
Still, the budget plan is unlikely to move forward without Parliament's approval. “We can already say that we will not start the process if there is no clear, distinct CAP and cohesion policy,” Mureșan said.
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