The European Commission intends to impose stricter rules on member states for obtaining funds from the European Union budget in force in the years 2028-2034, the Politico website reported. Countries that wish to receive support will be required to address gender inequality as well as promote organic farming.
According to information from the Brussels portal EC President Ursula von der Leyen intends to put pressure on countries to implement key economic reformsif they want to gain access to EUR 1.2 trillion from the next multi-annual EU budget.
EC budget officials outlined in an informal document the increasing hurdles that EU countries will have to jump through to get cash in the next budget plan. “The main idea is that Brussels will impose much stricter conditions than in previous budgets” – says Politico, whose journalists saw the document.
New rules for raising funds
Some 530 programs currently in force for each EU country will be merged into one national pot of cash to determine spending across sectors – from farm subsidies to social housing.
“The document stated that countries will need to address gender inequality (e.g. pay gaps for women and men -ed.), to receive money for social housing or to promote organic farming, to gain access to agricultural financing; This move is likely to spark opposition among farmers who rely on EU subsidies.
According to Politico, with a weakening economy and war on the EU's borders, the Commission is under enormous pressure to direct its investments away from unproductive subsidies automatically given to traditional sectors such as agriculture and towards new priorities such as defense and building pan-European industrial leaders.
“Few things in Brussels are as political as budget talks. However The EC's radical ideas for the next seven years prepare the ground for more difficult than usual negotiations with European capitals that fear giving in to what they see as a takeover by Brussels,” writes Politico.
Money from the EU only after the reforms
EU countries will have to unanimously approve the new budget before the end of 2027. Von der Leyen – as reported by the website – entrusted the new EU budget commissioner, Piotr Serafin, with the task of developing “a plan for each country combining key reforms with investments” in her mission letter.
Each national plan will include agricultural subsidies and financing for poorer regions, known in Brussels as cohesion, which currently make up almost two-thirds of the EU's total cash pool, according to the document.
The biggest change in the current regulations is that countries will only receive the money if they implement reforms favored by Brussels.
The document provides for the creation of an “ad hoc steering group” that will deal with the budget process. It will be formed by von der Leyen, the EC budget department and the General Secretariat, which operates under the direct authority of the German. Deputy chiefs and other departments will be able to be involved in the process as “guests”.
Critics of this approach suggest it takes power away from directorates-general (DGs), Brussels' version of ministries, which have often been seen as more susceptible to sectoral interests. For example, the Department of Agriculture was accused of defending automatic payments to farmers regardless of their greening efforts, while critics felt the regional department was too focused on the local dimension as opposed to the EU-wide dimension.
Main photo source: EPA