European Parliament approves the Community Budget and Recovery Fund

Brussels, 16 December 2020 - MEPs today adopted a resolution on the outcome of the previous week's European Council on the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the Inter-Institutional Agreement, the European Recovery Fund (‘NextGenerationEU') and the Regulation that legislates on respect for the rule of law. This vote ends a long negotiation process between the European Parliament and the European Council, which, due to pressure from the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA), came to a successful conclusion.

“I am pleased to note that despite being a long and arduous process - as a result of pressures, namely from Poland and Hungary -, the European Council ended up approving the Recovery Fund, the MFF and climate goals. The climate and the economies most affected by the crisis could not wait any longer. There are, however, some disturbing signs,” admits Francisco Guerreiro.

“The blackmail attempt of the two Eastern countries, trying to protect their anti-democratic agenda, is a reflection of some of the tensions that exist within the European Union and that will continue in the immediate future,” the MEP notes.

While applauding the fact that Member States have strengthened the goal of reducing greenhouse gases to at least 55% by 2030, Guerreiro says “that figure is clearly lower than what the scientific community demands (65% ) and lower than the one the European Parliament had already approved (60%). The fact that the goal was set in net and not absolute terms is also very worrying because there can be no flaws in the legislation that would allow large polluters to continue without radically altering their behavior,” considers the Greens/EFA MEP.

“It is also regrettable that the Council gave up and named natural gas as a transition fuel, because it is not. If we want to overcome the climate crisis, the European Union and the Member States have to invest only in non-fossil fuels and infrastructures. We need more ambition and less double standards,” considers the MEP.

It is the first time that the Greens/EFA group supports a MFF and the goals achieved are largely due to the commitment and dedication of MEPs in the negotiation process. This MFF is thus marked by more ambition on issues such as combating and mitigating the impacts of climate change, improving biodiversity protection and ensuring more gender equality.

"In order to leverage the rapid economic recovery post-COVID-19 and to boost the implementation of the European Green Deal, there was an urgent need to approve the MFF and the Recovery Fund. We have a robust climate budget for the first time, where at least 30% go to fighting climate change and at least 10% to supporting biodiversity. It is not the Budget that we would present, but it is an important victory. And it will allow Europe to be a global leader in the ecological transition, as well as in economic and social improvement,”concludes the MEP.

MEPs from the Greens/EFA will remain attentive to sectoral negotiations, mainly to the CAP and to the negotiation of the Common Fisheries Policy fund, the EMFF.

“Climate goals will hardly be reached without structural changes in these policies that involve not funding intensive exploitation and channelling these funds towards the protection of the climate and biodiversity," recalls Francisco Guerreiro.

Francisco Guerreiro warns that “the example set by the end of the EMFF negotiations and the conservative position of the European Parliament in approving the new CAP demonstrate that the MFF's climate, economic and social objectives are at risk. The whole cannot be done without its parts and, for the time being, the sectoral agreements show little ambition in really transforming Europe into a positive global power”.

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