Brussels, 19 May 2022
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Existing EU funds need to be boosted by other means, such as profit tax for energy companies, and seizing Russian oligarch assets
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Temporary EU social resilience package should be set up
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New strategic autonomy fund could boost energy and food security
- Call for Western politicians to resign from Russian posts
MEPs call for funding to deal with the consequences of the war in Ukraine, by confiscating Russian oligarchs’ assets, new EU own resources, and using the existing EU budget fully.
Adopting a resolution on the economic and social consequences for the EU of Russia’s war in Ukraine by a show of hands, MEPs say that the war itself and the “justified sanctions against Russia and Belarus are affecting the post-pandemic economic recovery of the European Union and pose a serious threat to the EU’s recovery”. These effects must be addressed “to help households and companies … and maintain citizens’ support for the actions taken against Russia and other actions to support Ukrainians” The resolution winds up the plenary debate held on 4 of May in Strasbourg.
Effects of war cannot be covered by existing financial instruments
MEPs say existing instruments such as Next Generation EU, SURE (Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency) or the EU budget’s flexibility system are not enough to mitigate the negative effects of war and the cost on the EU of the sanctions imposed on Russia. They therefore call for a windfall profit tax for energy companies, for Russian oligarchs’ assets to be seized and confiscated, and additional flexibility in the EU budget. The multi-annual financial framework (MFF) should be revised , state aid rules applied more flexibly, the level of the EU guarantee in the InvestEU programme should be increased, and the Commission should be ready to propose new programmes if it becomes necessary, they say. MEPs also call on the EU to lead in setting up a Ukraine Solidarity Trust Fund.
Helping people and businesses get through the hard times
The war has particularly exacerbated the energy price crisis, which has negatively affected purchasing power and operating costs, MEPs stress. The worsening of this crisis requires rapid intervention, they say. Member states should increase their social support and additional spending should be allocated to vulnerable but viable firms.
MEPs also stress that wage growth should take into consideration long-term inflation and productivity growth in order to maintain households’ purchasing power. A temporary European social resilience package coordinating a set of measures and means to strengthen social welfare and social protection systems in the EU should also be set up, MEPs say.
Investing in autonomy
MEPs place a particular emphasis in developing the EU’s autonomy. To do this, they call for a new, dedicated European fund to be established. The Strategic Autonomy Fund for Europe would finance cross-border energy infrastructure, renewable energy production and efficiency, cybersecurity, industrial competitiveness, food security, the circular economy, and sustainable development.
EU sanctions against politicians who continue receiving money from Russia
MEPs note that former politicians such as Esko Aho, Francois Fillon and Wolfgang Schüssel have recently resigned from their positions in Russian firms and strongly demand that others, such as Karin Kneissl and Gerhard Schröder, do the same.
They also call on the Council to extend the list of people subject to EU sanctions to include European board members of large Russian companies and politicians who continue to receive money from Russia.
(The last chapter was added according to the German version of this release).
Renew Europe: European Parliament endorses demands for Gerhard Schröder to be added to the EU sanctions list and for the creation of a new Strategic Autonomy Fund for Europe (SAFE)
MAY 19, 2022
We welcome the European Parliament’s adoption of the Renew Europe-led resolution on “The social and economic consequences for the EU of the Russian war in Ukraine”. The resolution recalls the urgent need for a full embargo of Russian energy imports and the extension of the sanctions to Navalny’s list of 6,000 individuals and GRU affiliated ‘news agency’ InfoRos. It urges the European Council to extend sanctions to European members of the boards of major Russian companies, including former German Prime Minister Gerhard Schröder, if he does not resign from his responsibilities at Nordstream.
Given the current context of unrelenting inflationary pressures, the adopted text also foresees a new resilience package to cope with the consequences of the war faced by EU Member States. This package would include both relief measures with a social perspective, especially focused on young people, and business measures; primarily targeted at European SMEs, urging the Commission to come forward with new proposals to encourage private actors to invest in the EU and strengthen the single market for services.
Moreover, our political Group, through its Vice-President Luis Garicano, advocated for the creation of a Strategic Autonomy Fund for Europe (“SAFE”), intended to strengthen the EU’s capacity to act and to provide us with the necessary investments to advance the EU’s so-called strategic autonomy in key areas such as energy infrastructures, cybersecurity, industrial competitiveness or food security, among others. The management of this new Fund should be based on the lessons learned from NextGenerationEU.
Finally, damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure has already amounted to more than $94 billion according to the Kyiv School of Economics. Total economic losses are estimated at $600 billion. For this reason, our group has negotiated hard to call for the cancellation of Ukraine’s debt relief and a Solidarity Trust Fund to rebuild Ukraine, as well as rapid economic and social assistance to Ukrainian refugees.
MEP Luis Garicano (Ciudadanos, Spain), Renew Europe Vice-President and coordinator on Economic and Monetary Affairs committee (ECON), stated: “It is outrageous that Gerhard Schröder continues to get paid for his position in Rosneft. Being a former Chancellor should not shield him from being sanctioned. Let´s end this impunity”
Source – Renew Europe (via e-mail)