EU Agrees on 2021 Budget, Awaits Hungary, Poland Veto

The EU Parliament approved on Friday the annual budget for 2021 of €164.2 billion, however, Poland and Hungary must withdraw their veto power over the 2021/27 budget for approval.

The new budget is built on revenue and spending limits, which Warsaw and Budapest are unwilling to accept as it links access to EU funds with respect for the rule of law.

Both countries are subject to European Union investigations for undermining the independence of the courts, the media and NGOs, risking the lose of billions of euros.

If the 2021-2027 framework is rejected, the next year's annual financial plan will have no legal basis.

German ambassador to the EU Michael Clauss said that without lifting blockage on the overall EU budget and recovery package, the union will have a drastic cut in funding in 2021, moving to 1989 system of provisional financing, allowing the EU to spend only 1/12th of 2020 financing.

Under the interim funding, no new projects will receive funding, only those that have already started under the 2014-2020 budget.

Meantime, EU Farmers will still receive delayed EU subsidies until 2022.

It is noteworthy that Poland’s deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin said on Thursday that his country would be ready to drop its veto to the EU’s € 1.8 trillion financial package if it endorses an explanatory declaration on the link between EU funds and the rule of law.