00:28A couple of days ago, the European Commission presented its first proposal.
00:33The budget covers the period from 2028 to 2034.
00:38It amounts to 2 trillion euros, a whopping increase of 67% compared to the current budget of 1.2 trillion euros.
00:47The spending would rise from 1.13 to 1.26% of the EU's gross national income.
00:54Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said,
00:56The proposal is a comprehensive overall of the EU budget to make it simpler, more effective and better aligned with European priorities.
01:06But what exactly these priorities should be is now up to debate among the various stakeholders, national governments and the European Parliament.
01:16That begs the question, what do Europe's citizens consider a priority?
01:20I know Erasmus Plus and programs like this are always the thing that people think of very fondly when it comes to the EU budget.
01:26and its involvement in their lives. And I would like to see more funding for these kinds of exchanges.
01:30I know Erasmus Plus and programs like this are always the thing that people think of very fondly when it comes to the EU and its involvement in their lives.
01:36and I would like to see more funding for these kinds of exchanges.
01:37I know Erasmus Plus and programs like this are always the thing that people think of very fondly when it comes to the EU and its involvement in their lives.
01:43But I would like to see more funding for these kinds of exchanges.
01:49quando trata-se da União e sua envolvência em suas vidas.
01:53E eu gostaria de ver mais de financiamento para esses tipos de exchanges.
01:56Não é só a defesa, mas também o aspecto humano.
01:58Para mim, a prioridade é primeiro o ambiente, o desenvolvimento de desenvolvimento e a qualidade.
02:04Vamos trazer em Gerardo.
02:06Fortuna Nau has covered this story for Euronews.
02:09Boa noite, Gerardo.
02:10Então, a apresentação foi precedida por discussões que foram marcadas por extraordinária secreção.
02:17Based on your reporting, tell us a bit about the process of how the sausage is made.
02:23The commission put up a system that could revelar spy movies
02:28because it's a classic example of compartmentalization.
02:33So, they divided people working on this dossier into groups.
02:38And these groups only had access to information necessary for carrying on their tasks.
02:44And, more strikingly, the figures, which is what matters, numbers,
02:49were shared with commissioners themselves only a few minutes before taking the final decision on the budget.
02:56So, you've covered many budgets.
03:00Looking at this draft proposal, what are the main characteristics?
03:03What is different compared to the last time?
03:05There's a lot of the lessons that Ursula von der Leyen learned in her first mandate,
03:11where she faced unprecedented challenges like the full-scale invasion of Ukraine,
03:17COVID pandemic, increase in energy prices.
03:21The EU needs more agility.
03:23And that's the main characteristic.
03:25Moving money from one path to another when it's needed.
03:29And the other one, of course, is simplification.
03:33We used to have over 50 funds.
03:36Now, we have just fewer.
03:38Cohesion policies, so regional funding,
03:40and commercial policy, EU farming subsidies,
03:44will be merged into a single pot.
03:46So, what happens next?
03:47When will the final budget be approved?
03:49It will be a long and highly likely difficult road ahead.
03:54Now, the Danish presidency of the EU Council
03:56is supposed to come up with what we call Nego Box.
04:00So, a negotiation piece of paper
04:03to start the talks between EU leaders by December,
04:09the next EU summit in December.
04:11And then, of course, some major countries like Germany
04:15already expressed concerns.
04:17It's going to take one or probably two years.
04:20There's also the European Parliament involved,
04:22but the Parliament just had to sign off.
04:25They can't amend, so they just have to approve the final deal
04:28as it goes out from the EU leaders' table.
04:32The Commission's blueprint remodels the budget structure
04:36along three main pillars.
04:38865 billion euros for agriculture, fisheries,
04:41cohesion and social policy,
04:43a merger of traditional funds
04:45that has already been criticised, especially by farmers.
04:47410 billion for competitiveness, research and innovation.
04:53This includes war-related defence infrastructure.
04:56Around 200 billion euros for external action.
04:58That includes support for Ukraine.
05:01Around 25 billion euros per year
05:03will be spent on paying back the pandemic recovery fund.
05:07Joining me now at the European Parliament is Kala Tavares,
05:10member of the Committees on Budgets and Budgetary Control
05:14from the Socialists and Democrats, from Portugal.
05:17In your opinion, is this a realistic budget proposal
05:20that covers all of people's needs adequately?
05:24We think the total amount that we have for the next MFF,
05:30it's not enough,
05:31because we have new challenges in the European Union.
05:35We have defence, we have competitiveness,
05:38but we need to still work together
05:41in the cohesion, in agri, in employment,
05:44in health, in education.
05:46So we think it's not enough
05:48what we have in the proposal from the Commission.
05:51So traditionally, the biggest items in the budget
05:54are the common agriculture policy
05:57and the cohesion policy.
06:01This time, they are lumped together
06:03and they're facing severe cuts.
06:05Are these justified?
06:07We need to saw the new architecture of the next MFF,
06:12but we think it's not good to measure
06:14the agri-programmes,
06:17the support to the farmers,
06:19and it's the same package that we put the cohesion.
06:23The parliament doesn't defend this way
06:26to the next MFF.
06:28We defend that we need to still have separated
06:31the agri and the cohesion
06:34from the big package that you have,
06:36another old fund that you have
06:39in these areas of this MFF.
06:42When you separate the agri and the cohesion,
06:45you put one and others to fight for the budget.
06:51We think it's not a good idea.
06:53It's not a good way for the future.
06:55And finally, what about investments
06:57in the fight against climate change?
06:59Is this still a priority?
07:00For the 27 member states,
07:03it's a big, big, big priority in the next MFF.
