Last week, the European Parliament’s budgets committee adopted its position on the EU’s seven-year budget. Renew Europe is especially pleased with the outcome. Here are four key liberal victories:
1. A Competitiveness Fund, at last
This has been a long-standing demand from liberals: the next EU budget must include a significant share of funding dedicated to regaining Europe’s competitive edge.
Fabienne Keller MEP (Renaissance, FR), Renew Europe’s negotiator for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), stated:
“This new fund sends a clear political message: the next EU budget will focus on addressing tomorrow’s challenges - innovation, research, health and youth. The fund also introduces a healthy dose of flexibility. When it comes to strategic investments, EU money should go where it makes the most impact, not simply where it used to flow.”
2. Rule of Law: A consolidated liberal victory
This was a key achievement for Renew Europe during the last mandate: if the rule of law is breached in a Member State, EU funds should not end up in the pockets of autocrats and their cronies. This principle is consolidated in the Parliament’s position. No going back!
Lucia Yar MEP (Progresívne Slovensko, SK) Renew Europe’s coordinator on budget matters, said:
“It’s not because Orbán has lost in Hungary that illiberal tendencies are eradicated entirely. We still have to deal with Slovak pro-Russian prime-minister Fico for instance. Autocrats are not like Dodo birds and other extinct species: it’s not because they’re gone now that they can’t come back later. That is why we welcome the fact that the MFF report strengthens the protection of Rule of Law principles and protection of European taxpayers’ money.”
3. Putting our money where our mouth is on gender equality
More than 1.2 million citizens across 19 Member States mobilised to demand access to safe abortion at the EU level through the “My Voice, My Choice” campaign. Their demands are now reflected in the MFF report.
Yar added:
“I could not have let 1.2 million people down. We cannot simply welcome such an act of civic mobilisation in favour of safe abortion when the cameras are rolling and then shy away from providing stable and predictable support. Today, the Parliament ensured that money allocated via ESF+ programme will be set aside for Member States choosing to participate in providing abortion care to people who cannot access it in their home country.”
4. No EU revenue, No EU budget
Liberal consent to the MFF is conditional on the adoption of new revenue streams. The only way to avoid burdening national treasuries is for the Commission to propose new EU levies, on tech giants for instance.
Keller, Renew Europe’s negotiator for the revenue side of the budget, concluded:
“You can be sure that we will not consent to an EU budget that lacks the necessary EU revenues to sustain itself. It’s a matter of basic financial prudence.”
The next step will be a plenary vote during the last week of April.