MEPs clear way for new EU revenue, call on EU countries to swiftly follow suit

10 November 2023

New EU revenue based on the Emissions Trading System, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, and on corporate profits; Funds urgently needed to repay debts from Next Generation EU recovery fund borrowing; New EU revenue agreed in legally binding roadmap from 2020

On Thursday, Parliament paved the way for introducing the next generation of “own resources”, sources of revenue for the EU budget.

With 399 votes in favour, 138 against and 61 abstentions, Parliament has taken an important step towards implementing an amendment to the law governing the EU’s revenue, the so-called “Own Resources Decision” (ORD). This amendment, once adopted by Council and ratified by all member states, will introduce three new sources of income: revenue from emissions trading (ETS); the resources generated by the proposed EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM); and a temporary statistical own resource based on corporate profits.


Paying back debt owed on the recovery plan


The proceeds from the new “Own Resources” will be essential to repay the debt under the EU’s recovery plan, especially with rising interest rates having a heavy impact on the EU budget. With the new revenue, the EU budget could be financed reliably on a long-term basis and also fund new priorities while avoiding having to reduce existing EU programmes and policies, MEPs say.


Prevent excessively high rebates for some member states


Against the background of high inflation, temporary reductions in the form of lump sums for Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden, from which they benefit for the period 2020-2027, have increased unexpectedly and disproportionately. MEPs therefore demand that these lump sums be adjusted annually as is the EU budget, i.e. on the basis of a fixed deflator of 2% per year....

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