“Time is a luxury that we cannot afford: we must take action urgently and bravely, because the citizens, companies and economies of the Union need an instant response”: with this speech, David Sassoli, president of the EU Parliament, opened the European Council that is taking place as a conference call, mainly focussed on the Recovery Plan, the Multiannual Financial Framework and Brexit. “The last time I spoke to you, we were in the midst of the pandemic. Even though the current state of public health in the EU seems to be under control because of the measures taken by the Union and by the member states, the extent of the crisis and its economic repercussions have become even more apparent”, Sassoli states. The president of the EU Parliament gives a positive judgement of the proposal made by the EU Commission to support economic recovery with 500 billion euros in grants and 250 in loans. “This brings me – he comments – to a matter that Parliament has very much at heart, that this common debt must be repaid fairly, without leaving the burden on the future generations. And we can do it by focussing on growth and development. As to this, don’t forget that providing just loans would have asymmetric consequences on the debt of the member states and would be more costly on the Union as a whole”.

“Now we have the opportunity to reshape Europe and make it fairer, greener and more long-sighted. To do this, we must seize this opportunity to launch a set of new resources of our own. The revenue area needs to be reformed and, for Parliament, the introduction of new resources of its own is a key prerequisite for any global agreement on Multiannual Financial Framework”.