Press release
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Multiannual Financial Framework
A bad deal and a breach of trust
The Irish Presidency of the EU Council, the European parliament and the European Commission today agreed on a compromise on the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014-2020. The Greens/EFA group are critical of the fact that the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, accepted the weak compromise without consulting the Parliament.
Commenting after the vote, the group's Co-President, Rebecca Harms, said:
"What happened today, with the European parliament's President Martin Schulz going it alone in concluding on the EU budget with the President of the European Commission Manuel Barroso and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, and with no prior transparent consultation, is unacceptable. It also constitutes a breach of trust. The €85bn in cuts proposed by the EU heads of state and governments are still in the deal and the deal's structure has not changed. There has been almost no progress on the Parliament's demands and the little that has been won will not be enough to meet the challenges of the economic crisis."
The group's Co-President, Dany Cohn-Bendit, stated:
"The advancing of funds for the programs fighting youth unemployment and assisting those in poverty are only cosmetic changes to get the European parliament to accept the deal. The Greens regret that the Parliament's other political groups are willing to accept a compromise that has essentially been dictated by the heads of state and government.
"While this budget allows us to spend more money on the fight against youth unemployment in 2014 and 2015, after these first two years, there is a risk of the money running out because in fact, there hasn't been any increase in the total budget for this programme. This deal also means that the research budget for 2014 will be lower than in 2013."
