European Public Goods: policy priority for financing the EU's sustainability growth and facing global challenges

Key points

The EESC:

• is convinced of the significance of the provision of European public goods for the well-being of the citizens, and therefore believes that particular attention should be paid to providing these and identifying them in the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) post-2027;
• also draws attention to the growing importance of global public goods (GPGs), such as peace, the fight against poverty, environmental protection and financial stability, among others, and underlines the need to strengthen world governance and its responsible organisations (the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, etc.);
• finds that special attention must be given to ‘functional EPGs’ – those linked to Article 3 TEU – that can ensure the normal functioning of the EU: the completion of the single market; the completion of the economic and monetary union; economic, social and territorial cohesion; EU open strategic autonomy (e.g. the joint EU health policy, food security, the EU energy union); defence and security; EU research and development; and the rule of law;
• underscores the importance of taking into account EU added value in all discussions on EPGs. An additional benefit could be unlocked through EPGs. If the EU does not integrate further, this additional GDP could be lost potential – the ‘cost of non-Europe’;
• underlines that the current outlined framework of EPGs, the strategic priorities and the challenges brought on by the current polycrisis situation require the next MFF to be ambitious: ‘the level of the next MFF – as a percentage of GNI – should not decrease in real terms and in fact must substantially increase to deal with the growing challenges at EU level’;
• believes that it is more important now than ever to delve deeper into the different ways of financing EPGs with an adequate amount of EU own resources;
• is alarmed that decisions on the EU’s own resources are stalling, and warns that any deadlock on these decisions could jeopardise the existence of the EU itself.