Own resources in the light of European Council Conclusions on the MFF and next generation EU

Abstract

The article deals with the system of EU own resources which is currently formed by traditional own resources, VAT-based resource and GNI-based resource. The system and its potential reform have been subject of scientific and political debates for many years. On 21 July 2020, the European Council agreed on the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027 and a specific recovery instrument Next Generation EU. The European Council conclusions also confirmed the need to reform the existing system and to introduce new own resources (e.g. resource based on non-recycled plastic waste). Therefore, this article aims to elaborate on the EU own resources and their future post-2020. The methods of description, analysis, comparison, and synthesis were used for writing this contribution. First, the current system of EU budget revenue is analysed. Second, reform efforts since the establishment of the High Level Group on Own Resources are described. Third, the European Commission’s original proposal from 2018 is compared to the European Council conclusions.