European Parliament wont accept “little MFF” – rapporteur

MEPs have maintained their hard positions on refusing any reductions from the proposed EU’s multi-annual budgetary framework, after breaking off talks yesterday with the Council, lamenting that long-term EU priorities such as the Green Deal and the Digital Agenda are put at risk.

A deal between the European Parliament and governments is required to adopt the EU’s largest-ever financial stimulus, which EU leaders agreed at a July summit to help lift Europe’s economy from its deepest recession on record.

Delays in reaching a deal could further damage the EU economy, as many sectors rely on the EU funds. However, EP’s rapporteur for the annual budget 2021, Pierre Larrouturou, said in a briefing this morning that the European Parliament “will not accept a little MFF”.

“A willingness to compromise is needed on all sides,” a spokesman for Germany, which is conducting the talks on behalf of the 27 EU governments, said on Twitter.

Larrouturou confirmed that the discussions remain ongoing in a spirit of collaboration but insisted that any reduction of funding which went against Europe’s needs for recovery would find the Parliament’s Opposition. The rapporteur re-iterated the need to increase the Union’s own resources, particularly through a financial transaction tax and a digital tax.