The European Parliament adopted by 537 votes to 126, with 19 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the draft Council regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020.
It approved the Multiannual Financial Framework for the years 2014-2020 reached by interinstitutional negotiations as well as the joint declarations by Parliament, the Council and the Commission annexed to this resolution.
MFF 2014-2020: the financial framework as decided during the negotiations amounted to :
- EUR 959.988 billion in commitments or 1% of GNI on average over the seven years of the financial framework;
- EUR 908.400 billion in payments or 0.95% of GNI on average from 2014 to 2020.
The draft Regulation is in accordance with the agreement reached on 28 June, 2013 by the Committee of Permanent Representatives and as it appears in the text of the agreement (refer to the summary of the legislative proposal of 19/07/2013).
Joint Declarations: a series of joint declarations were also adopted by the institutions. They concerned:
- Own Resources: according to Article 311 of the TFEU the Union shall provide itself with the means necessary to attain its objectives and carry through its policies. It also stipulates that, without prejudice to other revenue, the budget shall be financed wholly from own resources. Article 311 al. 3 indicates that the Council, acting in accordance with a special legislative procedure, shall unanimously and after consulting the European Parliament adopt a decision on the system of own resources and that, in that context, the Council may establish new categories of own resources or abolish an existing category.
On this basis, the Commission presented in June 2011 a set of proposals to reform the Own Resources system of the Union. The European Council called on the Council to continue working on the proposal of the Commission for a new own resource based on value added tax (VAT). It also invited the Member States participating in the enhanced cooperation in the area of financial transaction tax (FTT) to examine if it could become the base for a new own resource for the EU budget.
The question of own resources requires further work. To this end, a high-level Group will be convened, composed of members appointed by the three institutions. It should draw on appropriate expertise, including from national budgetary and fiscal authorities as well as independent experts.
The Group will undertake a general review of the Own Resources system guided by the overall objectives of simplicity, transparency, equity and democratic accountability. A first assessment will be available at the end of 2014. Progress of the work will be assessed at political level by regular meetings, at least once every six months.
National Parliaments will be invited to an inter-institutional conference during 2016 to assess the outcome of this work.
On the basis of the results of this work, the Commission will assess if new Own Resource initiatives are appropriate. This assessment will be done in parallel to the review referred to in Article 1a of the MFF Regulation with a view to possible reforms to be considered for the period covered by the next multiannual financial framework.
- Improving effectiveness of public spending in matters subject to EU's action: the three Institutions agreed to work together with the objective of cost savings and better synergies at national and European levels in order to improve the effectiveness of public spending in matters subject to EU's action. To this end, the institutions will, as they consider most appropriate, draw on, inter alia, knowledge of best practices, information sharing as well as available independent assessment. The results should be available and serve as one basis for the proposal of the Commission for the next multiannual financial framework.
- Article 15 of the Council Regulation laying down the MFF 2014-2020: the Institutions agreed to use the amount referred to in Article 15 of the Council Regulation laying down the MFF 2014-2020 as follows:
- EUR 2143 million for Youth Employment;
- EUR 200 million for Horizon 2020;
- EUR 150 million for Erasmus;
- EUR 50 million for COSME.
- Declaration of the Commission on national management declarations: in its discharge resolution of 17 April 2013, the European Parliament requested to establish a template for national management declarations to be issued by Member States at the appropriate political level. The Commission is prepared to examine this request and is willing to invite the European Parliament and the Council to participate in a working group with a view to issue recommendations by the end of this year.
- Review/revision: in a unilateral declaration, the Commission confirmed its intention to submit legislative proposals for a revision of the MFF Regulation. In this context, it will pay particular attention to the functioning of the global margin for payments in order to ensure that the overall payments ceiling remains available throughout the period. It will also examine the evolution of the global margin for commitments. It will also take into account the particular requirements of the Horizon 2020 programme and examine aligning its proposals for the next MFF with the political cycles of the Institutions.