Ahead of the special meeting of the European Council on 20 February 2020, the EPP Group expresses its discontent and disappointment over the proposal of Council President Charles Michel for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

"The EPP Group believes that the proposal put forward by the President of the European Council falls short not only of Parliament’s expectations but also those of European citizens," stated Manfred Weber MEP, Chairman of the EPP Group, and Siegfried Mureșan MEP, Vice-Chairman of the EPP Group in charge of Budgetary Affairs.

"The proposal of the President of the European Council lacks ambition as it does not provide the Union with the necessary means to implement its priorities.

The Member States, the Commission and the European Parliament are constantly calling on the EU to do more to fight climate change, to better support Research and Innovation, to provide more scholarships to our students and to adequately protect our borders; in order to do that, we need a more ambitious budget, not a smaller one. This proposal endangers the implementation of all the Union’s objectives.

While the levels of financing are insufficient across all headings of the budget, we take note of the proposal on ‘own resources.’ We believe that this is the solution to put in place a more ambitious budget and at the same time reduce the contributions of Member States. It proves that if there is political will, we can put together a reasonable budget.

Finally, we call on the EU Heads of State and Government to show responsibility and agree on a budget that enables the EU to move forward. If the European Council will not defend the interests of the EU and its citizens by putting forward a meaningful budget, the Parliament stands ready to do so and will reject any budget that does not fulfil citizens’ expectations of the EU."