THE’European Union has announced a reform of the way in which the next long -term budgets will be structured. The EU plans to begin to establish multi -year financial statements since 2028, but has still established a series of rules and objectives to begin to change the way the union collects the funds and distributes them to the Member States.
A part of this change is due to the fact that the European Union finds itself, for the first time in its history, to have to repay a debt. This is the one issued to finance the Next Generation EUthe plan that has financed, among others, the Italian PNRR. It is around 30 billion euros per year, which will be returned to creditors.
The principles of the new European budget
Less than 12 hours after the Financial Times He has published the contents of a reserved document that described the guidelines of the new European budget, the EU has issued a press release that makes official the financial objectives of the block. Next multi -year budgetor MFF (Multiannual Financial Framework) will be operational from 2028, but the way to reform him has already begun. The stated goal is to maximize the result of each euro spent.
The new budget will therefore include:
- A specific plan for each European country, designed and implemented in partnership with national, regional and local institutions. A sort of systematic PNRR;
- A European Fund for competitiveness, which gives the commission the opportunity to intervene in strategic sectors. A means to implement what is written in Mario Draghi’s plan;
- A reform of funding to abroad, more targeted to achieve strategic objectives and a common foreign policy. A means to increase EU soft power power.
The president of the Ursula von der Leyen Commission commented on what revealed: “The next long -term balance will give our union the power to implement the common vision that Member States have of the future. Will translate the priorities of the Commission In tangible actions, which will make the difference for millions of citizens, businesses, regions and researchers. As a result, we invite all Europeans to express their opinion about it through public participation platforms. Our challenges and our goals are common: together we are stronger ”.
The cost of the PNRR
As mentioned, the announcement of the reform was anticipated by an article by Financial Times. The British newspaper has focused for a long time on one of the introductory passages of what then became the EU press release, in which the Next Generation EU. The long -term budget reform, says the document, will in fact have to take into account the fact that the European Union must, for the first time in its history, return a loan.
According to the calculations of the Financial Times, the weight of this loan is approximately 30 billion euros per year. It is 20% of the current common budget, which therefore requires an increase in common spending or a clear reduction in the EU capacity to invest in the European economy. The path taken by the Commission seems to be the first, but it will certainly meet the resistance of the so -called frugal countries, such as the Netherlands and Germany, which want to avoid at all costs an increase in public debt, be it national or European.
