Disunited European Parliament calls off EU budget rebellion

by Jacob Wulff Wold

Parliament has called off a vote to reject the European Commission’s budget proposal, but the political groups are split on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s suggested tweaks to the €2 trillion cash pot.

Farmers, regions, and MEPs have rallied against the Commission’s €865 billion plan to fold agriculture and regional subsidies into centralised national plans negotiated between Brussels and national capitals since the EU executive unveiled the proposal for the bloc’s next long-term budget last summer.

On Sunday, Commission President von der Leyen suggested legal changes – including a dedicated target to fund rural agriculture, safeguards for regional involvement, and a steering mechanism to increase MEPs’ influence.

Then, on Monday, she discussed the budget tweaks with Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who attended on behalf of the Council.

With this unusual procedure, she successfully halted the Parliament’s threat to reject the file. A Parliament official confirmed to Euractiv on Monday that there will be no rejection vote on the agenda this week.

“Regarding the CAP [Common Agricultural Policy], the Commission’s proposals are quite good and meet our demands,” MEP Herbert Dorfmann, coordinator of agriculture policy in von der Leyen’s centre-right EPP group, told Euractiv.

Centre-left S&D was less enthusiastic about the changes. “It’s a cosmetic change that does not address the real concerns expressed by the leaders on their letter,” reads the group’s assessment shared with Euractiv, citing ‘renationalisation’ risks, national reform requirements, and a lack of regional and Parliament involvement.

“We now have a solid, understanding of the proposals and a clear path forward,” the Commission president wrote after the meeting.

Good, but room for more

Ahead of Monday’s meeting, liberal Renew and the Greens were pleased with the Commission’s concessions, per three parliament sources, but still said they would argue for more.

“On regions it goes in the right direction,” Green MEP Rasmus Andresen told Euractiv. “On EP [European Parliament] scrutiny and governance, it is not really strong. So there we need to see further improvements,” he said.

Renew wants “mandatory regional chapters” to further secure regional involvement, as well as more granular concessions on the Parliament’s role and the new budget breakdown, per one group official.

Last week, the S&D and EPP lead budget negotiators said that nothing short of formal amendments to the Commission proposal could stop a rejection by the Parliament.

A Commission spokesperson on Monday confirmed that it will not make any amendments, meaning that von der Leyen’s suggested changes will have to pass through EU countries via the Council.

On Monday morning, a senior EU diplomat called the suggested legal changes “sensible”.

He added that “many of the elements … overlap considerably with elements that we’re discussing”.

*Published first on Euractiv.com

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include the S&D’s official assessment.

Thomas Møller-Nielsen, Angelo di Mambro, Magnus Lund Nielsen and Eddy Wax contributed reporting.