On November 10, 2020, The German presidency of the Council reached a political agreement with the European Parliament’s negotiators aiming at the Parliament’s consent for the next multiannual financial framework, the EU’s long-term budget.
Since August, the Parliament and the Commission have been in consultations regarding the comprehensive financial package of €1,824.3 billion negotiated by EU leaders in July. The package combines the next multiannual financial framework – €1,074.3 billion – and a €750 billion temporary recovery instrument, Next Generation EU (in 2018 prices).
This package includes more flexibility to allow the EU to respond to unforeseen needs together with an indicative roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources. Also, the package foresees greater involvement of the budgetary authority in the oversight of revenue under Next Generation EU and higher ambition on biodiversity and strengthened monitoring of biodiversity, climate and gender related spending. The package includes a targeted reinforcement of EU programmes, including Horizon Europe, EU4Health and Erasmus+, by €15 billion through additional means (€12.5 billion) and reallocations (€2.5 billion) in the course of the next financial period, while respecting the expenditure ceilings set out in the European Council conclusions of 17-21 July. Together with the general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget and other elements of the framework and package, the deal will be submitted to member states for endorsement.
Michael Clauß, Permanent Representative of Germany to the EU, stressed the urgency of activating the recovery fund in order to mitigate the dire economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic affecting Europe severely now in the second wave, and also referred that the package is a well-balanced deal, which addresses the issues raised by the Parliament while respecting the guidance received from the European Council in July.