Brussels – The President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen indicated on Wednesday (November 12) in the plenary of the European Parliament (EP) a willingness to make concessions in the proposal for the EU’s long-term budget for the years 2028 – 2034. Slovak MEPs from various political groups told TASR that these concessions are not enough.
Lucia Yar (RE/PS) stated that the EP has acted uniformly towards the proposal for the multiannual financial framework (MFF) from the beginning, and the members criticized that the European Commission forgets about the regions and grants significant powers to national states. “From my perspective, it is not ambitious enough. There are many priorities, but little money. The priorities remain for us in the regions; we want the money to go where people need it most, which was not in the basic proposal of the European Commission. The Parliament is pushing for this; some concessions have been made, but so far they are relatively modest,” she said.
She clarified that as the Vice-Chair of the EP Budget Committee, she will be part of the negotiations and will push for as much money as possible to go to the regions so that they have better access to funds and national governments do not receive money in large packages, “so that the EU is not just a flow heater of large sums for national priorities.”
Katarína Roth Neveďalová (independent/Smer-SD) appreciated that the EC promised a 10% increase in the budget for agriculture, although without specifying the source of these funds. She is concerned that the European Commission is trying to bypass the EP in co-decision on the EU budget, as a large part of the money is hidden in areas that would be decided only by the EC. “If until now there has been a fund for adapting to globalization or a solidarity fund, the Commission wants to merge them into one fund in the new proposal, which it would decide on without the participation of the European Parliament,” she explained. According to her, this also threatens the merging of various funds for aid and humanitarian support to third countries. “One of the biggest objections we have is that the Commission is usurping more and more powers regarding the EU budget,” she stated.
Miriam Lexmann (EPP/KDH) pointed out that the EPP group in the EP demanded significant concessions – that the budget should not be centralized, and that the Commission should not have the largest decision-making power. “It is important for us that regions, cities, and municipalities have a greater voice. When the money goes to the regions, it is used and invested more effectively. I advocate for this approach as well,” she said. According to her, the Commission has only taken small, insufficient steps. The members are demanding an increase in the budget for farmers, and she wants to advocate that the MFF should only address topics that the EU has in its competence – economic growth, support for businesses and competitiveness, or combating poverty and security issues – and that the EU budget should not be used for various ideological, liberal-left topics.
Branislav Ondruš (independent/Hlas-SD) admitted that the speech of the EC President did not alleviate his concerns about the shape of the future MFF and he does not feel the need to support the part of the budget allocated to defense. He has reservations about the “astronomical increase in military spending,” which he believes contradicts the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, when public resources are turned into profits for private multinational corporations. He claims that the EC is lagging behind in proposals that would ensure the transfer of part of the profits of corporations in favor of employees, increasing their wages, or that these companies would be forced to transfer part of their earnings through public contracts or subsidies to improve their social policies. He continues to have concerns about the use of EU funds for regional development, fearing that there will be fewer resources for farmers, especially from Eastern European member states. “I am not sure that allocations for the European Social Fund or the Erasmus+ program will not be reduced,” he described the situation. (November 13)
