The unwillingness of EU member states to meet parliamentary demands on the EU’s multiannual financial framework strips power from democratically elected MEPs, say members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
“We are not asking for a penny more than the amount decided upon by the Member States, but it’s necessary in a parliamentary system to ask that the deputies elected by the European citizens must also be able to determine their spending priorities,” said Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the ALDE group.
The European Parliament is pushing for a clause that would require the budget to be reviewed three years into the 2014-2020 period. If this demand is not met, MEPs elected in 2014 will have no say on the budget, the ALDE group stressed.
This article on Research Professional News is only available to Research Professional or Pivot-RP users.
Research Professional users can log in and view the article via this link
Pivot-RP users can log in and view the article via this link.