Today, the Socialists and Democrats will give their green light in a plenary vote in the European Parliament to the mid-term revision of the current Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027. The revision of the pluriannual budget of the EU has been negotiated on behalf of the European Parliament under the leadership of Margarida Marques, Vice-chair of the European Parliament’s committee on budgets. Among the main achievements for the S&D Group are the creation of the Ukrainian Facility inside the EU budget, the increased flexibility and emergency aid capacity for member states, and the addition of €2 billion for the implementation of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. In addition to all of this comes the reinforcement of the European Defence Fund with €1,5 billion for the purpose of investing in critical technologies in Europe, and the reinforcement of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe with €7,6 billion. The S&D Group also welcomes the agreement reached on the 1st of February at the EUCO special summit to establish the EURI Instrument– an uncapped special instrument over and above the MFF ceilings to cover at least part of the borrowing costs for NextGenerationEU, without undermining existing flagship EU programmes.
Margarida Marques, S&D MEP and co-negotiator of the Parliament on the revision of the MFF, said:
“Our current pluriannual budget was negotiated five years ago. This might not seem so long ago, but life on our continent, and in the world, has changed beyond recognition since then. The Socialists and Democrats have been calling member states and the European Commission for a long time to sit and see how we can increase EU money to better respond to the challenges our society faces. The Covid-19 pandemic, the war against Ukraine and the overall escalation of humanitarian crises worldwide, together with all the pressing needs both at the doorstep of the EU and within, made it clear to our Group that the Union's budget had to be revised. And our Group did it during the negotiations of the MFF revision. It is a pity that the revision was held hostage for so long by the Hungarian government and its blackmailing due to its systematic problems with the rule of law, but in the end we were happy to see an agreement reached at the level of the 27 member states.
“Our Group welcomed the agreement reached by the heads of state and governments on the revision of the MFF during the special summit held on 1 February. The S&D Group will give its consent to the agreement in plenary today, as this revision is a prerequisite for providing vital support to Ukraine. With the updated MFF, the EU will be able to provide much needed financial support to Ukraine, up to €50 billion in grants and loans. In addition to this, the revision of the MFF will make possible the establishment of the so-called Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP). This platform will be key for our Union in becoming home to state-of-the-art critical technologies and will boost our strategic autonomy in an increasingly competitive world, while also ensuring the creation of quality jobs. Moreover, with the revision, we are ensuring a more viable and sustainable solution to rising borrowing costs with the creation of a special instrument over and above our budget ceilings, thereby protecting the Union's funding to flagship programmes such as Erasmus+.”
