The European Commission has today presented its proposals for the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), setting out the EU’s investment priorities for the coming years. The Party of the European Socialists (PES Group) in the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) believes this package is a betrayal of Europe’s regions: first when it comes to the amount itself, there is not a single extra euro for the new priorities. Secondly, regarding governance, the regions and cities are cut out. This budget does not serve the people, and it’s a clear setback for EU solidarity.
Luca Menesini, President of the PES Group in the CoR states: “Did the European Commission lie us? It seems it has turned its backs on the very regions it vowed to support. Despite its promise that “Our regions and our farmers will always be at the heart of our Union," today’s proposals from the European Commission completely sideline the regions. National plans are to be negotiated solely with member states, leaving the lines of communication between regions and the Commission broken. Are principles like subsidiarity, partnership, multi-level governance, and place-based approaches merely empty words for Ms. Von der Leyen?”
"What was presented to Europeans today is not merely a budget proposal. It’s a radical and aggressive restructuring of the European Union, its principles and its values disguised as a budget proposal. The EU known for its territorial, social and economic cohesion, the EU built on the subsidiarity principle, the EU that begins in regions and cities and local and regional communities is under unprecedented attack by the proposal known today under the name of MFF. We urge the other EU institutions, particularly the European Parliament, to defend, not only these values, but especially the democratic values and their institutional roles which have been so severely undermined by the procedures that led to this proposal and by the substance of today’s announcement.”, said Vasco Alves Cordeiro, Chair of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget.
“The European Commission promised flexibility and simplification, but what we received was a triple layer of centralisation leading to more control in the hands of the European Commission. The EU Budget will become less efficient, more complex, and less democratic. Will the European Parliament find the courage to uphold its commitment to a cohesion policy and a common agricultural policy that truly place regions at their core? We will stand firm on their side against the the twisted "Frankenstein Fund" proposed by the European Commission! The European Parliament is our beacon of hope to restore democratic accountability at all levels within our Union!” stated Pascal Smet, PES Group Coordinator in the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget.
As discussions begin, the PES Group will support the efforts of the European Parliament and the S&D Group to safeguard a post-2027 MFF that places people and regions at the centre, protects cohesion policy, ensures that social justice and climate action are funded and defends a governance system that includes all levels of government.
Contact details:
Vanessa Paget
vanessa.paget@cor.europa.eu
