The European Budget

In the wake of the Special Council which will take place on February 20th, where European leaders will discuss with Council president Charles Michel on the topic of the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), this week’s headlines take a look at some of the opinions surrounding the EU Budget. 

Budget cut implications

It is still uncertain as to what the final number of the 2021-2027 EU budget will be, as points out El País. The figures proposed between the European Commission and the Parliament do not align – there is yet to be a final agreement between the institutions on how the EU will fill the gap left by Brexit. Nevertheless, as El País reports, there will have to be budget cuts made in other ways to fill the void, such as to the agricultural or structural sectors. The article reports that the upcoming proposed budget may end up being one of the smallest since the 1980s. This is in line with a steady decline of the gross national income, the phenomenon of which jeopardize the countries that receive significant funds from the EU, such as Spain. It is clear that there is no clear agreement between the EU member states – the percentage figure of the gross national income of the EU has yet to be determined, proposals ranging between the 1% and 1.30% mark.



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Austria's potential veto

Following the recent exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union (who was one of the biggest contributors to the EU budget), other countries are concerned about having to pay for the ‘Brexit gap’, such as Austria. Following Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s recent threat of vetoing the MFF at the next European Council, Austrian news agency Kurier discloses the more recent updates concerning the nation’s position on the matter. EU Minister for Austria Karoline Edtstadler has recently been making stops throughout the Visegrad countries in order to speak to officials on the Austrian stance - Along with the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark, Austria is one of the net contributors to the EU Budget. Certain Visegrad countries are on the opposite end of the spectrum, (considered net recipients of the EU budget) hence the visits to the countries. Echoing Chancellor Kurz’s thoughts, Kurier reports that Edtstadler calls for limiting Austrian’s contribution to the EU budget, to one percent of the gross national product. She also maintains that it would be unacceptable if Austria loses the economic discounts it currently benefits from.



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Rule of law is essential

Charles Michel had a busy first week of February, meeting with several EU leaders in Brussels ahead of the next European Council. Romanian president Klaus Iohannis met with the Council president, as reported by Romanian Insider. The European Budget was one of the main points of the agenda, but more specifically for Romania were the ties to the rule of law. The proposed criteria is that, as long as the nation respects the rule of law, the granting of EU funding continues – Iohannis specified to the press that Romania is in agreement with this procedure. The Romanian president is aware of the complicated conditionalities that come with being a ‘net receiver’ state but vowed that he would do his best to negotiate in Romania’s favour. Romania Insider also reports that Iohannis was hopeful for cohesion and agriculture to be on the agenda.



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Time is of the essence

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has made clear his stance on the MFF – the EU must come to an agreement sooner, rather than later, reports Total Croatia News. Last week, the Croatian PM attended a meeting in Portugal with the Friends of Cohesion informal group, where he made the comments – Plenković firmly stated that the legislative work surrounding the next European Budget needs to begin as soon as possible. The article implies that the Croatian Prime Minister does not seem too worried about the draft proposal, which will be unveiled at the next European Council meeting. Total Croatia News mentions that, with Croatia being in the seat of the rotating Council presidency, the nation has a better chance of defending its own national interests – especially in terms of cohesion policy. After all, Croatia is the youngest member of the EU, having only joined in 2013.





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