{"id":427642,"date":"2025-05-22T14:27:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T12:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2025\/05\/22\/bilancio-ue-mff-critiche-ppe-riforma-vdl\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T15:17:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T13:17:20","slug":"eu-budget-epp-also-turns-against-von-der-leyen-no-to-centralization-of-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2025\/05\/22\/eu-budget-epp-also-turns-against-von-der-leyen-no-to-centralization-of-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Budget: EPP also turns against von der Leyen \u2014 ‘No to centralization of funds’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – There is growing opposition<\/strong> to the EU budget reform<\/strong>\u00a0Ursula von der Leyen <\/strong>wants. In addition to the doubts raised by local authorities and the European Parliament, now comes the friendly fire<\/strong> of her\u00a0European People’s Party (EPP)<\/strong>. The Christian Democrat parliamentary group\u00a0reiterated the same\u00a0misgivings<\/strong> expressed by the House a few weeks ago, pointing the finger at key elements of the new seven-year budget on which work has been worked on behind the scenes at the Berlaymont building\u00a0for months.<\/p>\n

There seems to be no peace for the controversial\u00a0reform that Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong> has in mind for the multi-annual EU budget<\/strong> (MFF<\/strong>), which was finally publicly announced<\/a> a couple of days ago. In the name of flexibility<\/strong> and efficiency<\/strong>, the head of the twelve-star executive outlined the outlines\u00a0of a true revolution in the very structure of the budget<\/strong> for the 2028-2034 programming period.<\/p>\n

In essence, the RRF\u00a0model\u00a0<\/strong>of the post-pandemic recovery facility would apply: 27 national plans<\/strong> (NRRP-style), tranches<\/i> disbursed based on the implementation of reforms<\/strong> by member states, targets<\/i> and milestones<\/i> <\/strong>to meet, and combining various programs<\/strong> under broader umbrellas. For example, the resources earmarked for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)<\/strong> and the cohesion policy<\/strong> – the two main expenditure chapters, each consuming approximately one-third of the MFF\u00a0–
\nwould be merged<\/a>\u00a0into a single super-fund<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Piotr<\/a>
Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin (photo: Dati Bendo\/European Commission)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The European Parliament
\nraised its shields<\/a> earlier this month when Members of Parliament issued\u00a0a series\u00a0of rejections<\/strong> to the von der Leyen-designed reform that Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin <\/strong>is also working on.\u00a0<\/strong>Above all, they rejected the centralizing approach based on national plans <\/strong>and\u00a0the introduction of\u00a0a new Competitiveness Fund,<\/strong> promoted by the head of the Berlaymont to give fresh momentum to European industrial policy, which has topped<\/a> Brussels’ agenda since last year.<\/p>\n

The EPP’s internal revolt<\/h4>\n

However,\u00a0a fight within the EPP itself<\/strong> has now erupted. It is not a minor<\/strong>\u00a0political problem<\/strong> since it is the family to which the Commission President belongs. The Christian Democrat parliamentary group put in black and white<\/strong> yesterday (May 21) its misgivings<\/strong> about von der Leyen’s proposals, responding point by point<\/strong> to the news announced in recent hours.<\/p>\n

The Populars’ grievances closely resemble those expressed by the plenary – after all, one of the co-rapporteurs who drafted the Strasbourg position, Siegfried Mure\u015fan<\/strong>, comes from the very ranks of the EPP. No to the “RRF philosophy as a model for the Union budget,”<\/strong> reads the document adopted by the group, which Eunews <\/em>viewed.\u00a0It “cannot be the basis for shared management expenditure after 2027” because it “would give more power to the Commission and Member States.<\/strong>“<\/p>\n

\n

\"Manfred<\/a>
EPP leader Manfred Weber (foto: Alain Rolland\/EP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The merger of the cohesion funds and the CAP<\/strong> is also a red flag, as it calls into question the principle of multilevel governance.<\/strong>\u00a0There is a rejection of the\u00a0Competitiveness Fund<\/strong> – no one can touch the Horizon Europe <\/i><\/strong> program – and the Fund for Global Europe<\/strong>, with which the Berlaymont would like to increase the financing of the EU’s external action, which ‘raises serious concerns<\/strong>‘ about the merging of different programs (from development aid to neighborhood policy, via migration management, the Global Gateway<\/i> and CFSP missions).<\/p>\n

Also in line with the rest of the hemicycle, the EPP\u00a0calls for greater flexibility to deal with crises<\/strong> and a simplification of the rules on disbursements<\/strong> (elements not to be used, however, “as a pretext to simply grant more power to the Commission” at the expense of the Parliament), as well as budget chapters dedicated explicitly to defense spending<\/strong> and to pre-accession assistance to\u00a0candidate countries<\/strong>, ending with the overcoming of the constraint<\/strong> that historically limits the MFF\u00a0to 1 percent of the Union’s gross national income<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The tug-of-war continues<\/h3>\n

It has never been a downhill path<\/strong> to approval of the new budget since\u00a0the first rumors\u00a0emerged\u00a0<\/a>last fall, which the Commission until now\u00a0never\u00a0officially confirmed.\u00a0E<\/strong>ven the executive vice president for Cohesion and Reform, Raffaele Fitto,\u00a0<\/strong>has been tight-lipped despite\u00a0repeated pressures<\/a> in recent months.<\/p>\n

Among the most vocal opponents<\/strong> of centralization in the new draft EU budget are the local authorities\u00a0in the Committee of the Regions (CoR)<\/strong>, which denounce the risk of irretrievably disrupting the territorial approach<\/strong> on which cohesion policy is based. Moreover, farmers do not favor the amalgamation of CAP funds with regional funds and\u00a0have taken to the barricades,\u00a0parading with their tractors through the streets of Brussels.<\/p>\n

\n

It was yesterday, it was in 2\u20e30\u20e3 different countries, and it was the entire farming sector united against the idea of a single fund and the dissolution of the CAP within it. she was repeatedly pulled the jacket<\/a><\/p>\n

In the face of economic and geopolitical challenges, increasing demands on\u2026
\nthey were distinguished<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014 COPA-COGECA (@COPACOGECA) #EUHouseOfCards<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A head-on clash seems to be\u00a0on the horizon between the EU institutions<\/strong>, each entrenched in the defense of its prerogatives and intent on securing the appropriate resources<\/strong>. The Commission should\u00a0present its formal proposal<\/strong> (accompanied by numbers and figures) next July, while the inter-institutional negotiations<\/strong> will begin at the earliest in the fall.<\/p>\n

At this point, it is unlikely that the EU executive will backtrack<\/strong> on the structure of the new MFF. <\/strong>The ball is in the court of the MEPs, starting with the Populars: how much will they be willing to put their foot down to force von der Leyen’s hand <\/strong>and obtain concessions? The tug-of-war continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Parliamentary Group of the People’s Party made it clear that it opposes the reforms proposed by the President of the Commission, joining a long list of critics and skeptics of the new course of the EU budget. And raising a political issue of significant importance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7876,"featured_media":427633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25705,25681],"tags":[27805,31308,31277,29993,31309],"class_list":["post-427642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-politics","tag-politica-di-coesione-en","tag-riforma-bilancio-ue-en","tag-pac-en-2","tag-qfp-2028-2034-en","tag-rrf-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7876"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427642"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":427655,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427642\/revisions\/427655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}