Sassoli Called On EU Leaders To Unblock Negotiations On The Long-term Budget

Sassoli Called On EU Leaders To Unblock Negotiations On The Long-term Budget

The countries of the European Union should increase the next seven-year EU budget (2021 - 2027) by 39 billion euros. This was stated by the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli in his speech at the opening of the two-day EU summit on Thursday. In the closing of his speech on budgetary issues, despite the fact that EU leaders are not discussing the issue, the head of the European Parliament called on senior officials to approve MEPs' proposal to increase the long-term budget by another € 39 billion. According to him, this would help unblock the ongoing negotiations on the budget and the recovery fund after the corona crisis, which are being led by negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. "Negotiations are currently blocked. It is up to you to get them moving again," Sassoli said. He also said that the European Parliament wanted to allocate additional billions to research and development, education, health policy and security. According to him, EUR 39 billion would be only a small adjustment compared to the EUR 1.8 trillion package, which together represent a long-term budget and a recovery and resilience plan. "It's only a small amount if we look at the overall package, but one that would make a huge difference for citizens," he said. His words relate to the agreement, which was born at an extraordinary four-day EU summit in July this year, where prime ministers and presidents agreed on a seven-year budget and the establishment of a € 750 billion corona recovery fund. The July compromise was also born of the cuts that marked the programs for science and research or support for young people, which the European Parliament wants to at least partially correct. However, according to the Reuters news agency, Sassoli's call did not find much response among the summit participants, when several leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that no one was willing to reopen the July agreement. Sassoli replied that the European Parliament's proposal was only a "technical adjustment" and did not mean the "reopening" of the July agreement. "We are not asking us to start from scratch. This is not a challenge to the July agreement, but a small step that would bring us closer to the final approval of the overall package," he told EU leaders. The agreement on the EU's seven-year budget must be approved by the European Parliament; without its adoption, the new multiannual financial framework cannot become operational. Another dispute in this area, which is hampering the budgetary agreement between the European Parliament and the Member States, is the European Parliament's requirement that the use of Eurofunds be conditional on the Member States of the Union respecting the rule of law. Hungary and Poland have already threatened to veto the approval of the EU's seven-year budget and recovery fund if the conditionality of the interconnection of Eurofunds to the rule of law can be enforced. Both countries consider this conditionality to be an extortion tool.