Brussels – The European Union’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), as proposed, is not acceptable. It is no secret that EU Member States are unhappy with the framework for the next seven-year budget (MFF 2028–2034), but now the opposition is gathering momentum and becoming more united. Sixteen out of 27 Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Hungary) closed ranks with a joint declaration that is effectively a motion of no confidence in the European Commission. These are the so-called “friends of cohesion,” who will not tolerate funding cuts for policies supporting regional development and agriculture.
“In the Commission’s proposal, cohesion policy and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are the only policies facing
reductions in real terms, despite the overall increase in the size of the new MFF”, the sixteen countries complain. They call for “an increase in the Member States allocations” under the two programmes, given that cohesion and the CAP “are the most visible EU policies for the EU citizens.”
A point that Tommaso Foti, Minister for European Affairs, the NRRP and Cohesion Policies, stressed. “The European Union’s next Multiannual Financial Framework must ensure adequate resources for the Treaty‑based policies, starting with cohesion policy and the Common Agricultural Policy, which are essential tools for Europe’s growth, convergence, and food security.” In this context, “it is unacceptable that cohesion, the CAP, and fisheries should be the only policies to see a real reduction in resources despite the overall increase in the EU budget,” and it is necessary “to preserve the principle of shared management and the role of Member States in programming EU funds, avoiding automatisms that limit territorial specificities.”
The criticism regarding Structural Fund resources is effectively an act of censure against Raffaele Fitto, the executive vice‑president responsible for Cohesion Policy, who, following Italy’s signing of the letter, finds himself “cast aside” by his own country and by the government that appointed him. Fitto is being criticised for the reform of cohesion policy, which not everyone supports: “Cohesion Policy should not be turned into a systematic crisis tool, replacing other EU instruments designed for this purpose.” In this regard, the 16 countries state that “the proposed 10% crisis reserve should be reduced,” and that the reprogramming of measures currently underway in the plan “should remain a voluntary option” for Member States.
But the letter also contains other points of contention: the “friends of cohesion” are attacking the so-called “frugal” Member States, which want to contribute as few resources as possible, while calling to maintain rebates – the refund for the national contribution to the EU budget – beyond 2027. These are Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, with whom tensions had already surfaced among leaders at the European Council summit — and now the confrontation resumes. “The abolition of rebates linked to the GNI (gross national income, ed.) based on own resources is a must,” according to the group of 16 countries that signed the joint declaration. In their view, “there is no political or
economic rationale for re-introducing them on the revenue side of the EU budget.“
The European Commission has, however, secured the agreement of the 16 countries to work on the proposal for own resources – revenue for the EU budget other than national contributions – in exchange for more funding for cohesion and agriculture, as well as for new mechanisms similar to those used to respond to the post-pandemic crisis. Cohesion supporters argue that “a more gradual repayment scheme of Next Generation EU and new joint borrowing for loan
support (such as Catalyst Europe) should be considered as options to finance investments and
European public goods essential for long-term strategic autonomy.“
