On March 15, 2024, a public lecture on the Challenges of the EU budget by Jan Olbricht, Member of the European Parliament, was held in a hybrid format within the project «EU Global Responsible Leadership: Climate Change, Environmental Protection and Humanitarian Aid» (EU_LEAD).
During the lecture, Jan Olbricht focused the attention of the students majoring in international relations on what the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is, explaining that:
the member states of the European Union agree on the size of the EU budget and the method of its financing for several years ahead;
The MFF is financed from the EU’s own resources and supplemented by other sources of income;
The MFF is based on the principle: expenses must match income = no debt.
Jan Olbricht paid special attention to the legal basis of the EU budget, pointing to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Treaty on European Union (TEU), EU budget legislation (MFF, own resources, financial regulation), as well as interdepartmental agreements.
Also Jan Olbricht outlined the challenges of the EU budget, among which he identified the following as the main ones:
Russia’s war against Ukraine;
- energy crisis;
- migration crisis;
- high inflation;
- the rise in interest rates.
At the same time, Jan Olbricht paid special attention to the support of Ukraine from the EU, which amounts to more than 88 billion euros, of which:
- 43.4 billion euros is provided by Team Europe to support the overall economic, social and financial stability of Ukraine;
- about 28 billion euros for military aid, 6.1 billion euros of which were mobilized within the framework of the European Peace Facility;
- over €17 billion to help EU member states meet the needs of those fleeing the war in Ukraine;
- as a result of the revision: up to 50 billion euros is provided within the framework of the new Ukraine Assistance Fund (33 loans + 17 grants).
In total, 95 participants attended the lecture by Jan Olbrich, Member of the European Parliament. Students were mainly interested in the question of whether the EU will continue to provide financial support to Ukraine in the conditions of the war with the aggressor.
The project team of «EU Global Responsible Leadership: Climate Change, Environmental Protection and Humanitarian Aid» (EU_LEAD) sincerely expresses its gratitude to all the participants of the event and continues to prepare other, no less interesting events.
More detailed information about EU_LEAD can be found on the project website on the Lviv Polytechnic Portal.
