UBI: MEP asks if Europe is willing to launch a pilot project

Brussels, 17 September 2020- Today, MEP Francisco Guerreiro (Greens/EFA) questioned the European Parliament if it is willing to launch a Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) pilot project.

Given the pandemix and the growing shortage of resources, Francisco Guerreiro insists that “European and national institutions cannot be held to the stratagems previously employed to resolve the debt problems of central governments, households and companies”.

Therefore, he placed the following question:

COVID-19 has made it necessary for the European Union and its citizens to take a fresh look at their way of doing things and their outlook on life. The worsening economic and social crisis is evidence that European and national institutions cannot be held to the stratagems previously employed to resolve the debt problems of central governments, households and companies. In the midst of discussions on the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the firming-up of Recovery Fund amounts and percentages:

1. Has the Commission considered the possibility of direct payments to European citizens in response to the crisis, as a means of getting round the inefficiencies of indirect support payments through credit institutions or national governments?

2. Would it be willing to make adjustments to a number of MFF or Recovery Fund programmes in order to launch a pilot project for the introduction of unconditional basic income in the Member States?

Read the question here.

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