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Proposal for a Council Decision amending Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/2053 on the system of own resources of the European Union

In “Delivering together and preparing our Union for the future”

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In 2021, the European Commission announced its proposal for the introduction of new own resources. The proposed amendment aims to secure necessary resources to cover new budgetary expenditure such as the repayment of the debt created by the Next Generation EU (NGEU) grants and the newly created Social Climate Fund (SCF), without limiting the funding of the existing programmes and long-term MFF commitments and without requiring an increase of the GNI-based own resources. 

The preceding 2020 reform of the system of own resources was linked to the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF) and the introduction of NGEU. The 2020 reform increased the own resources ceiling in order to create additional headroom as guarantee for the repayment of debt created by borrowing for NGEU grants. Additionally, a new statistical own resource based on non-recycled plastic packaging waste has been introduced as of 2021. 

A related Interinstitutional agreement (IIA) between the the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission was reached in 2020 and included a roadmap for the introduction of new own resources. The Commission submitted a first proposal for new own resources in December 2021. It comprised the extended Emissions Trade Scheme (EU ETS), a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and reallocated profits of very large multinational companies (based on Pillar 1 of the OECD/G20 agreement). 

The Council needs to adopt any new own resources proposal unanimously after consulting the European Parliament. All Member States need to ratify the decision subsequently. 

On 23 November 2022, the European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution approving the proposal for a Council decision on the system of own resources of the European Union from December 2021. According to the resolution, the revenue from the application of a uniform rate of call equal to 100% (instead of 75%) of the revenue from the sale of certificates of the carbon adjustment mechanism at borders should constitute own resources entered in the EU budget. Furthermore, if by the end of 2023 the process of ratification of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework Pillar 1 Agreement has not started in a critical mass of countries as defined by the Multilateral Convention, the Commission should propose a new own resource in connection with the single market, in order to generate revenues by 2026. The resolution demonstrates the consistency of Parliament’s long-standing position in support of the principles of unity and universality of the EU budget, and against the perception and prevalence of the ‘net balance’ logic.

On 20 June 2023, the Commission put forward an adjusted package for the next generation of own resources, amending its previous proposal. It proposes to increase the call rate for the ETS-based own resource to 30% from all revenues generated by EU emissions trading, up from 25% originally proposed and add new sectors such as maritime transport, buildings and road transport. 

The proposal includes a new temporary statistical own resource based on company profits designed as a national contribution paid by Member States based on statistics under the European system of accounts. A call rate of 0.5% is to be applied on gross operating surplus. This own resource will be replaced by a possible contribution from Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT), once that will be adopted.

The timeline of entry into force of the new own resources has been updated and the previously foreseen date of 1 January 2023 was amended to 1 January 2024. The proposal needs to be negotiated with the Member States in the Council for any step forward. The Commission calls on the Council to accelerate these negotiations. After entering into formal reconsultation, on 9 November 2023, the European Parliament debated and voted a legislative resolution approving the amended Commission proposal. It calls on the Commission to alter its proposal according to Parliament's amendments.

On 20 March 2025, the European Council discussed the next MFF and additional new own resources for the first time. The conclusions of the meeting just contained the following sentence: 'The European Council had a first exchange of views on the next Multiannual Financial Framework and on new own resources.'

On 7 May 2025, the European Parliament called on the Council in an own-initiative report on the next MFF, 'to adopt new own resources as a matter of urgency in order to enable sustainable repayment of NGEU borrowing'.  BUDG stressed further that new genuine own resources, beyond the IIA, were essential for the Union’s higher spending needs. BUDG stated that all instruments and tools should be explored in order to provide the EU with the necessary resources, and considered, in that respect, that joint borrowing presented 'a viable option to ensure that the Union has sufficient resources to respond to acute Union-wide crises, such as the ongoing crisis in the area of security and defence'.

The European Commission has presented the proposal for the next MFF 2028-2034 on 16 July 2025. As part of it, the Commission proposed a revised proposal for a Council Decision on the system of own resources of the European Union including new 5 own resources and thus repealed Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/2053. See the relevant legislative train for further developments. 

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Further reading:

Linked legislative trains: 

Author: Alina Dobreva, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu

As of 20/03/2026.