The current MFF has already been pushed to its limits, with unprecedented use of flexibility instruments, mobilised to address the refugee crisis, the financing of the EFSI Guarantee Fund and the shortage of payments and unpaid bills. Its mid-term revision must reassess the ceilings and the provisions to provide the EU with a budgetary framework to address its political priorities.
These were conclusions from the debate with Luc Van den Brande (EPP/BE) on his working document on the Mid-term revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) discussed by the European Committee of the Regions' commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER) today.
"The MFF is of particular importance for regional and local authorities since they directly manage some EU programmes under shared management and are therefore directly affected by the level of both commitment and payments appropriations in these fields" – underlined the rapporteur.
Van den Brande's working document suggests that MFF revision should also focus on strengthening growth and jobs in Europe and tackling unemployment. It further advocates stronger emphasis to addressing causes of migration and refugee crisis, especially in the third countries. It debates revision of the duration of the future MFF cycles and proposals for stable, longer-term financing:
"We need a genuine system of own resources which will reduce the share of GNI national contributions to the EU budget" – argued Van den Brande.
Regional and local authorities play a vital and irreplaceable role regarding the implementation of European policy objectives. The regions and local authorities are involved, directly or indirectly, in managing or spending more than 75% of the EU budget. The MFF is important for RLAs as it sets the ceilings on the amounts under each heading for the annual EU budget.