EU wants big budget to fund new priorities after Brexit
The European Commission yesterday proposed a budget to finance new priorities like defence and border control as well as compensating for Britain’s departure from the bloc.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday said that the 2021-2027 budget will be “bigger than the preceding one, because it will determine the future of our Europe of 27” members.
The Commission unveiled a seven-year spending package worth 1.135 trillion euros, which accounts for around 1.1 percent of the bloc’s total output.
Agricultural funding and “cohesion funds” that help raise the infrastructure standards of poorer states are both to be cut by around 5 percent.
The Commission is also seeking powers to suspend or restrict funding to countries whose rule of law standards might pose financial risks.
The Commission described it “as an honest response to today’s reality in which Europe is expected to play a greater role in providing security and stability in an unstable world, at a time when Brexit will leave a sizeable gap in our budget.
The proposal, according to the Commission, “responds to this twin challenge through cuts to expenditure and through fresh resources in equal measure. Funding for the Union’s new and main priorities will be maintained or reinforced which inevitably means some cuts in other areas. With the stakes so high, it is time to act responsibly. Today’s budget proposal is therefore both focused and realistic.”
EC President Jean-Claude Juncker said, “Today is an important moment for our Union. The new budget is an opportunity to shape our future as a new, ambitious Union of 27 bound together by solidarity. With today’s proposal we have put forward a pragmatic plan for how to do more with less. The economic wind in our sails gives us some breathing space but does not shelter us from having to make savings in some areas.
“We will ensure sound financial management through the first ever rule of law mechanism. This is what it means to act responsibly with our taxpayers’ money. The ball is now in the court of Parliament and Council. I strongly believe we should aim to have agreement before the European Parliament elections next year.”
Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger, in charge of Budget and Human Resources, added: “This budget proposal is truly about EU added value. We invest even more in areas where one single Member State cannot act alone or where it is more efficient to act together be it research, migration, border control or defence.
“And we continue to finance traditional - but modernised - policies, such as Common Agricultural Policy and Cohesion Policy, because we all benefit from the high standard of our agricultural products and regions catching up economically.”
Building on today’s proposals, the Commission will present, in the weeks to come, detailed proposals for the future sector-specific financial programmes.