Brexit will open a hole in the EU budget of about 10-11 billion euros. It was the European Commissioner for the Budget, Guenther Oettinger who did the math. In the next multiannual financial framework, after 2020 – he stated when presenting the White Paper on the future of European finances – “there will be new challenges ahead of us: border protection, policies for migrants and refugees, development assistance, for reduce migratory flows in the next decade. Our budget has 250 billion for income and expenses; we are the only budget in Europe that cannot have debt. After 2020 we will no longer have the United Kingdom, which is a net contributor despite the rebate (the discount negotiated in the 10s by Margaret Thatcher, ed), and we will have a gap of 12-XNUMX billion euros a year”.
Furthermore, “we will have to control borders and protect borders – he added – Therefore, in the White Paper we have outlined various options to fill these gaps. It is a reflection document: we invite the European Parliament to discuss it, as well as the Member States, the Council and the citizens. It is important that we present a plan on the next multiannual financial framework: if we want clarity on the budget and take into account the impact of the UK leaving, we need to look to 2020 and beyond. So in November-December of this year we will have to reflect: we are on the right track with Parliament and the Council”.
According to Oettinger, “we have the option of making a seven-year plan, like now, or a five-year plan. It's something we have to decide on. We believe that the European Commission should do its homework: we need to simplify and increase flexibility. We believe cuts will be needed over the next decade, as we have a great country walking away. We have to look at spending reallocation and cuts, but it is clear that only with spending cuts and reallocation will it not be possible to fill the gap left by Brexit and we will not be able to finance the new tasks ahead of us”. States, he concludes, must decide if they are ready to finance the EU to face the new challenges it faces.
