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The June I 2021 plenary session took place in Strasbourg once more (although still in hybrid form), some 15 months after the previous session was held there, with coronavirus-containment measures restricting the Parliament's activity throughout that period. A number of important debates took place, including on European Council and European Commission statements on the conclusions of the special meeting of the European Council on 24 and 25 May 2021, and on preparation for the G7 and EU-US Summits ...

On 1 June 2021, the decision that reforms the financing system of the EU budget entered into force, following its ratification by all Member States. It introduces three significant innovations in the own resources system, applying retroactively from 1 January 2021. The maximum level of resources that can be called from Member States permanently rises from 1.20 % to 1.40 % of EU gross national income (GNI). A temporary increase in the own resources ceiling, worth a further 0.60 % of EU GNI, is devoted ...

In December 2020, the adoption of the legislative package on the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF) and the Next Generation EU (NGEU) recovery instrument marked the end of an important stage in the process of launching a unique financial stimulus package – the recovery plan for Europe. However, in order to make the plan fully operational, additional conditions need to be met and preparatory steps completed. First, there is the financing of NGEU, based on borrowing operations carried ...

The Own Resources Decision (ORD) establishes how the EU budget is financed. Its entry into force requires approval by all EU Member States according to their constitutional requirements. In a majority of Member States, national parliaments are responsible for ratifying the decision. In the others, the government alone decides on the approval. Completion of the ratification procedure by all Member States has generally required more than two years. However, there was a greater sense of urgency for ...

During its March II plenary session, the European Parliament is scheduled to vote on three Council regulations that complete the architecture of the revenue system of the EU budget. The consent procedure applies to the implementing measures, while legislative opinions (consultation procedure) are to be adopted on the operational provisions. Prior to the votes, Parliament will hold a joint debate on the broader reform of EU own resources, for which a roadmap and guiding principles have recently been ...

This document was prepared by Policy Department for Budgetary Affairs for the Committee on Budgets as a background paper for the Public Hearing on ‘Financing the EU budget: new own resources and possible other revenue’. It provides a summary of the system of EU own resources in the light of the agreement on its revision reached during the negotiations of the 2021-27 MFF. It shows the rationale for the reform including the need to find sources to finance the repayment of the EU borrowing in the framework ...

Responding to requests for a common recovery plan to complement national efforts to tackle the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, substantial new EU financial instruments have been rapidly introduced such as temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE). The European Council meeting on 17-21 July agreed a recovery package based on a 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of €1 074.3 billion, topped up with €750 billion in extra resources for EU programmes, financed ...

The purpose of Draft Amending Budget No 7/2020 (DAB 7/2020) is to update the revenue side of the budget, taking into account the latest economic developments. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the outlook for the European economy has changed significantly since the budget was adopted. DAB 7 proposes the following adjustments on the revenue side of the 2020 budget: an update of the estimates for traditional own resources, the own resources based on the value added tax and gross national income. Further ...

The September 2020 plenary session was the sixth conducted with Members participating remotely, using the alternative voting procedure put in place in March by Parliament's Bureau, although a majority were again present in Brussels. As well as the Commission President's traditional State of the Union address, Parliament held a joint debate on the risk of breach of the rule of law and LGBTI-free zones in Poland. Parliament also debated European Commission statements on the preparation of the special ...

Following the European Council’s July political agreement on the EU’s financing system, the European Parliament is expected to vote its legislative opinion on the reform during its September plenary part-session, with a view to expediting the launch of the borrowing operations of Next Generation EU. The report adopted on 1 September by the Committee on Budgets stresses that new own resources must be introduced, and finance at least the entire repayment costs of the recovery instrument. Parliament ...