In a resolution adopted on Wednesday by 356 against 199 votes and 65 abstentions, MEPs offer an assessment of the reform process so far under the “roadmap for the introduction of new own resources” saying that “EU finances are going through a critical period where a lack of reform would have highly detrimental effects on the future the European Union, its policies, objectives and the trust of Europeans and investors in the Union.”

New challenges put the EU budget under heavy strain

MEPs are “highly worried” that the amounts generated by the new own resources will not be sufficient to cover all “Next Generation EU” (NGEU) recovery repayments and borrowing costs, estimated to be at least €15 billion EUR per year until 2058 on average.

The economic and social shock of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the heavy impact of inflation on the EU budget and the rising global race to shape the future of clean energy technology manufacturing are additional challenges which underline the need to reassess the EU system of own resources.

Fresh ideas for additional revenue sources

As the EU budget will have to pay back debt incurred under the EU recovery plan without jeopardising investments and other EU programmes, MEPs propose an array of new sources of income for the EU budget, including corporate tax-based own resources, the financial transaction tax, a new fair border mechanism, a tax on crypto-assets, green own resources and national contributions based on statistics.

The Commission has already proposed a first batch of new own resources in 2021. The MEPs call on the Commission to come forward with the next batch of proposals “as soon as possible and no later than the third quarter of 2023.”

Fiscal legitimacy must be ensured by elected representatives

The MEPs consider that the European Parliament should play an enhanced role in the decision-making process for own resources “to ensure the visibility, legitimacy and democratic accountability of EU public finances.”