There should be an increase in the EU budget, with more contributions from member states, a new joint debt issue and private funds, Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said in Brussels on Thursday.
Just days after sending a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asking for a strengthened EU multiannual financial framework from 2028, Montenegro revealed that he had not yet received a reply from her but had received “some solidarity from other colleagues” as European leaders meet in Brussels.
“I’ve already had the opportunity this morning to take part in the meeting of the European People’s Party yesterday [Wednesday] at the Cooperation Conference with the Gulf countries and to realise that, effectively, in order to be competitive and to fulfil […] Europe’s objectives in the coming years […], we need to have greater sources of funding and a greater diversity” of these sources, he pointed out.
Recalling his letter to von der Leyen, the head of government said that this meant “reinforcing the contributions of the member states and, secondly, assuming the possibility of collective financing through, in particular, mutualisation of debt” as happened with the Post-Covid plan, which finances the Recovery and Resilience Plans.
Montenegro added that it also involves “developing private financing mechanisms” because “Europe cannot be forever discussing the single capital market, the Banking Union, a common savings system” but must instead ensure “instruments that go beyond public financing.”
“They are needed to strengthen Europe’s industrialisation, and they are particularly needed for countries like Portugal, which are also looking to become more competitive and also need funding sources. That is what we are committed to,” he added.
In his letter to von der Leyen, Montenegro called on countries to contribute more than the usual 1% of gross national income to the 2028-2035 multiannual financial framework, adopt new resources, and create collective public and private financing programmes.
The European Commission is due to present its proposal for the EU budget between 2028 and 2035 next summer.
The current EU budget is more than €2 trillion, considering the €1.2 trillion multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027 and the NextGenerationEU recovery instrument of up to €800 billion for 2021-2026.
The EU’s long-term budget for 2021-2027, together with the NextGenerationEU recovery instrument, amounts to €2.018 trillion in current prices.
The EU’s key priorities for the coming years include competitiveness vis-à-vis its main competitors, the United States and China, and the transition to a digital and more sustainable Europe.
(Ana Matos Neves – edited by Pedro Sousa Carvalho | Lusa.pt)
Source: euractiv.com
