Will Poland and EU countries get more? The European Parliament bids higher

In the new EU budget we will propose, among others: increasing quotas for farmers – said Romanian MEP Siegfried Muresan, the European Parliament's rapporteur for the budget, on Tuesday in Brussels. The politician announced that the EP would like to increase the future EU budget in several areas.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament's budget committee will vote on amendments to the proposal for the EU's multi-annual budget for 2028-2034 prepared by the European Commission.

As Muresan (EPP) said, the European Parliament will want, among other things, increasing funds for agriculture. The European Commission has proposed that the common agricultural policy allocate EUR 261 billion in the new EU budget to directly support farmers. This is to include EUR 48 billion for rural development and EUR 45 billion of support for farmers agreed this winter under the Mercosur agreement. PE wants to increase this amount by approximately 10%.

This corresponds to the position of Parliament in favor of funds amounting to EUR 385 billion for the common agricultural policy at constant prices from 2025, Muresan said.

The EP also wants to increase funds for fisheries – instead of the EUR 2 billion proposed by the EC, it will allocate approximately EUR 6.5 billion. – We completely reject the cuts proposed by the Commission. We cannot accept the weakening of the fisheries policy, noted the Romanian MEP.

As he announced, the EP will also propose allocating a specific amount to cohesion policy, and will also support flexibility when it comes to transferring funds from cohesion policy to enable member states to respond to unexpected changes. – With regard to cohesion policy, we propose an amount of EUR 274 billion, which roughly corresponds to the amount that cohesion policy had at its disposal in the current multiannual financial framework, he said.

The European Parliament also says “yes” to the regions

Muresan added that the EP would also propose the restoration of the support program for the outermost regions. – This program has operated successfully in the current multiannual financial framework, we believe that eliminating it would be a mistake – emphasized Muresan, adding that the EU's borders are of particular importance in the current geopolitical context. The MP added that the EP will support the continuation of the European Social Fund proposed by the EC and will propose allocating EUR 110 billion for social projects.

According to the MEP, the European Parliament will also support increasing funds under the European Competitiveness Fund from PLN 207 billion to PLN 234 billion and increasing funds for the Horizon Europe, Erasmus+ and culture programs. – Europe is currently going through a difficult moment, so we cannot look at the next annual financial framework in the same way as we look at the current financial framework. We need greater ambition, more funds from our own resources. New challenges are emerging and at the same time we must be able to deal with problems that we have been struggling with for years, said Portuguese Social Democrat Carla Tavares, second rapporteur on the budget, on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the EP Budget Committee will vote on the proposed amendments to the EC project. There should be a debate on this topic during the April plenary session in Strasbourg.

From Brussels Jowita Kiwnik Pargana (PAP)

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