Extensive health protection measures start at 10:00 local time in Brussels, the first of 21 February, the European Council Summit with a physical presence in Brussels and the purpose of reaching an agreement on the next Community budget and the economic recovery fund.
At the same time, in the Council, the President of the Republic is expected to raise the issue of Turkey's illegal actions against the Republic of Cyprus and its sovereign rights.
The 27 will be alone in the room on the 5th floor of the new Council building, which has a capacity of 330 people and is normally intended for large multilateral conferences, so that they can maintain a physical distance of 1,5 meters. Council staff, leaders and their associates (just 6 out of 19 they have had with them so far) will wear masks (except for leaders at the time of statements or meetings) and disinfectants have been placed everywhere. The rooms where bilateral contacts will take place will be disinfected before and after the leaders enter, and medical staff will be immediately available to assist any leader or attendant who develops symptoms. In this case, a removal protocol is provided, even for the leaders, who in this case appoint a representative from another Member State.
The President of the European Council is expected to convene a plenary session of the leaders first, an exchange of views will begin, with at least one delegation from each delegation, and then the meeting will be adjourned for bilateral contacts and negotiations. After the bilateral contacts, the sherpas (representatives of the leaders) and the technical teams will take over, probably throughout the night. The goal is for President Michel to have a new final compromise proposal in his hands on Saturday morning, to which everyone can agree. If this is not possible, there is always the possibility of interrupting the Session and repeating it a few days later.
In the first part of the meeting, the delegations are expected to raise issues outside the MFF. A delegation will raise the issue of Russian misinformation and Cyprus and Greece will raise the issue of Turkey's aggressive stance in the Eastern Mediterranean. At this stage, it is not clear whether a relevant paragraph will be included in the conclusions, although two diplomatic sources told the press in Brussels that, on the one hand, the necessary preparation for this purpose has not been made and the goal of the Summit is to focus on MFF.
In detail, the President of the European Council will put on the table his proposal for an MFF of EUR 1 074 billion and one-off discounts for Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden.
The proposal maintains the size of the recovery package, so that the Commission has the power to borrow up to € 750 billion. These funds can be used for loans and expenditures channeled through MFF programs. The President proposed to maintain a balance between loans, guarantees and grants to avoid overburdening Member States with high debt levels and to avoid increasing fragmentation and inequalities in the single market.
Regarding the allocation of the Recovery and Durability Facility (RRF), to ensure that the money will be allocated to the countries and sectors most affected by the crisis, 70% of the facility will be undertaken in 2021 and 2022, according to the criteria 30% will be committed in 2023, taking into account the decline in GDP in 2020 and 2021. The total budget should be disbursed by 2026. Based on this proposal, Member States will prepare national recovery plans and resilience for 2021-2023 according to the European Semester, in particular recommendations for each country.
The plans will be reviewed in 2022. The evaluation of these plans is proposed to be approved by the Council by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission. With regard to climate conditions, the President's proposal stipulates that 30% of the funding will go to climate-related projects. Expenditure under the MFF and the NGEU will be in line with the EU's Climate Neutrality target by 2050, the EU's 2030 climate targets and the Paris Agreement. The President also proposes terms related to the rule of law. According to the President's proposal, repayments will begin in 2026, and this commitment increases the pressure to introduce new own resources.
There will be a new own resource related to non-recycled plastic packaging waste from 2021. The Commission will be invited to submit proposals in the first half of 2021 on a mechanism for adjusting carbon emission limits and a digital levy to be introduced in by 2023 at the latest. In addition, the Commission will be called upon to return with a revised proposal on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, as well as to continue work on the introduction of other new own resources. The President also proposed a € 5 billion Brexit reserve, which would offset the unforeseen consequences for the Member States and sectors most affected.
Regarding the possibility of an agreement, according to a community official who informed the press in Brussels, by digital media: "we are not there yet". As he said, "it is not impossible (to have an agreement), but we have many bridges to build".
He estimated that in relation to the size of the EAP, the amount of NGEU, the distribution key and the ratio of grants and loans "our proposals are sufficient, but there are differences".
He noted "significant differences in new own resources and repayment timetables" at the general and specific levels of "serious governance with at least one delegation" and "climate targets and rule of law, also with a delegation ".
The EU official clarified that "many numbers have been heard, 100 billion, 200 billion, 300 billion, 400 billion", but "our proposal (750 billion for the NGEU) is the most balanced way to reach an agreement", he stressed.
Regarding the new method for the distribution key 70% - 30% for the years 21 - 22 and 23 respectively, he explained that there is no other proposal and everyone works based on this assumption.
He also explained that "at the moment we are in the phase where the delegations are hardening their position" and this includes the ideas for the governance of the program, ie the approval of the investment-reform programs with a strengthened majority (S. Michel position) or unanimity (Dutch position).
He stressed that each delegation "is currently doing its calculations, each delegation is cutting and adding", but "in the end everyone will understand the chain reactions and will return to the fact that our proposal is the most balanced". The same is true, he explained for the proposals on sectoral cuts, such as from the fair transition fund.
Source: Ant1
