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 the proposal is a comprehensive overall of the EU budget to make it simpler, more effective, and better aligned with European priorities.
01:05But 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.
01:25And its involvement in their lives. And I would like to see more funding for these kinds of exchanges.
01:31I 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.
01:39And I would like to see more funding for these kinds of exchanges.
01:55There is not only the defense, there is also the human side.
01:58For me, the priority is first the environment, what is sustainable development, and then the wealth.
02:04Let's bring in Gerardo. Fortuna now has covered this story for your news. Good to see you Gerardo.
02:10So, the presentation was preceded by discussions that were marked by extraordinary secrecy.
02:17Now, based 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 reveal spy movies, because it's a classic example of compartmentalization.
02:33So, they divided people working on this dossier into groups, and these groups only had access to information necessary for carrying on their tasks.
02:44And, more strikingly, the figures, which is what matters, numbers, were shared with commissioners themselves only a few minutes before taking the final decision on the budget.
02:56So, you've covered many budgets. Looking at this draft proposal, what are the main characteristics? What 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, where she faced unprecedented challenges, like the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, COVID pandemic, increase in energy prices.
03:20The EU needs more agility, and that's the main characteristic. Moving money from one pot to another, when it's needed.
03:30And the other one, of course, is simplification. We used to have over 50 funds, now we have just fewer.
03:37Cohesion policies, so regional funding, and commercial policies, EU farming subsidies, will be merged into a single pot.
03:46So, what happens next? When will the final budget be approved?
03:49It will be a long and highly likely difficult road ahead. Now, the Danish presidency of the EU Council is supposed to come up with what we call Nego Box.
04:00So, a negotiation piece of paper to start the talks between EU leaders by December, the next EU summit in December.
04:11And then, of course, some major countries, like Germany, already expressed concerns. It's going to take one or probably two years.
04:20There's also the European Parliament involved, but the Parliament just had to sign off. They can't amend, so they just have to approve the final deal as it goes out from the EU leaders' table.
04:32The Commission's blueprint remodels the budget structure along three main pillars.
04:37865 billion euros for agriculture, fisheries, cohesion and social policy.
04:42A merger of traditional funds that has already been criticised, especially by farmers.
04:47410 billion for competitiveness, research and innovation. This includes war-related defence infrastructure.
04:55Around 200 billion euros for external action. That includes support for Ukraine.
05:00Around 25 billion euros per year will be spent on paying back the pandemic recovery fund.
05:06Joining me now at the European Parliament is Carla Tavares, member of the Committees on Budgets and Budgetary Control from the Socialists and Democrats from Portugal.
05:17In your opinion, is this a realistic budget proposal that covers all of people's needs adequately?
05:24We think the total amount that we have for the next MFF, it's not enough because we have new challenges in the European Union.
05:35We have defence, we have competitiveness, but we need to still work together in the cohesion, in agri, in employment, in health, in education.
05:46So we think it's not enough what we have in the proposal from the Commission.
05:51So traditionally the biggest items in the budget are the common agriculture policy and the cohesion policy.
06:00This time they are lumped together and they are facing severe cuts. Are these justified?
06:06We need to saw the new architecture of the next MFF, but we think it's not good to measure the agri programs, the support to the farmers,
06:18and the same package that we put to the cohesion. The Parliament doesn't defend this way to the next MFF.
06:27We defend that we need to still have separated the agri and the cohesion from the big package that you have,
06:36the other funds that you have in these areas of this MFF.
06:42When you separate the agri and the cohesion, you put one another to fight for the budget.
06:51We think it's not a good idea. It's not a good way for the future.
06:54And finally, what about investments in the fight against climate change? Is this still a priority?
07:00For the 27 member states, it's a big, big, big priority in the next MFF.
07:07It's important to remember that the next MFF begins in 2028 until 2034.
07:14So it's very important for the member states to have a tool to react when we have some problems,
07:26but at the same time have the capacity during old years to invest in these areas to prevent some issues in the future.
07:37Whether the Commission's budget proposal will survive in its current form is highly unlikely.
07:43In fact, some financial heavyweights like Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden have already rejected the numbers game.
07:50They believe the budget is too big and too expensive.
07:55So there's no more investment in the future.
08:00TIT.
08:01They do not have to deal with the future.
08:03To be continued with the potential of this MFF.
08:04To be continued with this MFF.
08:06My Ocean is a big part of this MFF.
08:09I think that the MFF has been a big part of this MFF.
08:13It is a beautiful Muffin.
08:14If you can have a greatель, you are to continue to reopen.
08:16The MFF has been a great feature for the MFF.
