Next generation of own resources

Key points

The EESC:

• acknowledges the Commission's efforts to propose new own resources and guarantee a solid and sustainable EU budget;
• supports the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 mid-term review proposal to progressively increase the ratio of EU own resources to Member States' GNI-based revenue;
• also broadly supports the European Commission's adjusted package for the next generation of own resources, understanding its temporary nature and on the basis that it is limited to the repayment of the appropriations used to finance NextGenerationEU;
• calls on the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to adopt an adjusted package for the next generation of own resources before the end of the current political term of office;
• finds that the issue of EU own resources and budgetary capacities has not received the visibility needed to address all its aspects. An in-depth but time-bound debate involving the social partners and civil society organisations should take place without delay and in accordance with the next term of office of the EU institutions;
• largely supports the proposals for own resources put forward by the European Parliament on 10 May 2023;
• acknowledges the need and urgency to add adjustments to the already proposed new own resources and put forward new additional own resources;
• reiterates the need for a structural modernisation of the own resources system, which should support digital, environmental, and sustainable economic growth objectives;
• finds that the share of the revenue from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that goes to the EU budget should be subject to rigorous assessment and consensus between the Commission and the Member States;
• recognises that the potential impact of the proposed new statistical own resource on company profits on the competitiveness of businesses, including a possible review of national corporate tax policies, should be properly assessed and that the administrative burden, for public administrations and companies, should be kept to a minimum;
• recognises that, overall, the temporary statistical own resource could contribute to financing NextGenerationEU until the implementation of the "Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT)" mechanism.