Spring Alliance calls for an EU budget that delivers the most for people and the planet

On February 7-8, Heads of State and government will meet again in order to hopefully find an agreement on the next Multiannual Financial Framework. Very little news has been available from the November EU Summit to assess if the positions of the different member states have become closer, apart from the speech of the UK Prime Minister Cameron. Speaking in different forums last Friday, Martin Schulz, the European Parliament’s president, and Janusz Lewandowski, the budget commissioner, delivered the exact same warning: the deeper the cuts, the less likely Parliament will okay the MFF regulation (source: Europolitics).

In view of the next EU Summit, Social Platform, in the frame of the Spring Alliance (an alliance composed by us, ETUC, CONCORD and EEB), sent a letter to the 27 Heads of State and government to reiterate our concerns about the intended reduction of the overall amount for the EU Multiannual Financial Framework and the impact this will have on those parts of the budget that deliver the most for people and planet. In particular it will affect the cohesion policy – including the European Social Fund and the Rural Development Fund – development policy, and the EU’s only dedicated environment fund, LIFE+. Such reductions will have severe consequences for reaching the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy and of the Lisbon Treaty.

In particular we strongly encourage member states and the EU Council to integrate the following proposals in the final decision on the MFF in order to secure a major step towards a more people-centered and green EU budget:

On the overall budget:

  • Having a strong EU budget is good for the implementation of EU common objectives at European and national level – keep the overall amount of the EU budget (1.025€ billion of commitments and 972.2€ billion of payments) as proposed by the Commission
  • At least 20 per cent of the MFF should be spent on climate change-related activities

On cohesion policy:

  • Support the 336 billion euro for the cohesion policy to respond to current and future needs
  • Ensure the minimum allocation of 25% of the cohesion policy funds to the European Social Fund (ESF) and earmark 20% of the ESF to social inclusion and the fight against poverty

On environment and climate change:

  • Reject cuts to the Rural Development Budget of the CAP
  • Increase the LIFE Fund to 1% of the overall EU budget

On development:

  • Protect the development budget as proposed by the Commission, both for Heading 4 and the European Development Fund

You can read the full letter.