Romanian MEP appointed chief negotiator of EUR 1.3 trillion multiannual EU fund

Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan (EPP/PNL) has been appointed by the political groups of the European Parliament as the chief negotiator for the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union post-2027.

Mureșan, who was chief negotiator for the EUR 800 billion European Recovery and Resilience Mechanism and the 2018 and 2024 EU annual budgets, noted in a press release cited by News.ro that he is the first Romanian MEP to hold this role.

"The EU's seven-year MFF has a total value of approximately EUR 1.3 trillion and is the main source of non-repayable European funds for Romania, including for investments and agricultural subsidies. From the current MFF (2021–2027), Romania benefits from approximately EUR 46 billion, which represents 16.5% of the country's GDP," Mureșan stated.

As a Romanian MEP, Mureșan emphasized that his main goal will be to defend Romania’s interests and secure the highest possible level of EU funds for the country.

"At the same time, there are high expectations for this MFF from people across all member states, as well as from European businesses and governments,” he added, highlighting the challenges that the EU has to navigate.

“Adequate funding for agriculture is necessary to ensure Europe's food security, while cohesion is the main tool for reducing economic disparities between member states. These two policies remain crucial, especially for Romania, and I will defend them in the negotiations," the liberal MEP further explained.

Siegfried Mureșan also said that the future MFF should also be better prepared to finance unforeseen crises, such as the war in Ukraine, and provide funding for candidate states like Moldova and Ukraine.

The next step, under Mureșan's coordination, is for the European Parliament to set its priorities for the future MFF, which will then be communicated to the European Commission for inclusion in the budget draft.

Due to the high importance of this dossier, there will be two chief negotiators from the European Parliament.

Siegfried Mureșan has been appointed as the negotiator from the center-right EPP political family, the largest political group in Parliament, while a negotiator from the Socialists and Democrats group, the second largest, will be appointed soon.

(Photo source: Siegfried Muresan on Facebook)