New incomes for EU or billions in cutbacks

"Without new own resources by 2027, the EU's budget will face cutbacks of at least €15 billion every year in order to repay its debts or Member States will have to substantially increase their contributions. It is time for the Member States to wake up to this harsh reality and get to work on finding a solution”, José Manuel Fernandes MEP, EPP Group Spokesman on Budgets, said, ahead of today's expected publication by the European Commission of proposals for new own resources.

The repayment of borrowing costs under the EU’s COVID-19 recovery fund, NextGenerationEU, was estimated at €15 billion per year until 2058 representing about 10 percent of the EU Budget.

"We shouldn't forget that in the current long-term EU Budget Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), we are only paying the cost of the debt. Increasing interest rates means the cost of repaying that debt may double in comparison to what was initially projected and could even reach €30 billion by 2027! What is even more worrying is that after 2027, the EU will have to start to repay not only the cost of the debt but the debt itself. That is why we need to properly prepare or else face serious cutbacks in EU funding”, Fernandes warned.

The EPP Group will assess today’s proposals for a second basket of new own resources. “Generally, we do not favour new own resources that burden citizens and SMEs, but those that can generate revenue, promote fair competition and help us achieve the EU’s political priorities, such as tackling climate change.