On 12 December, EU Heads of State met in Brussels for the last EU Council Summit of 2019. While discussions mostly focused on the EU’s climate strategy for 2050, EU leaders also discussed the proposal on the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (i.e. the EU multiannual budget), on the basis of the latest “negotiating box” shared by the Finnish Presidency on 2 December.
The document details the main budget headlines, including on the proposal for new “own resources” to be provided by Member States. The negotiating box also reiterated the proposal for a so-called “plastic tax”, which would take the form of “a national contribution calculated on the weight of non-recycled plastic packaging waste with a call rate of EUR [0.80] per kilogram”.
While the basket of new own resources has drawn some criticisms especially from Eastern Member States, overall the plastic tax appears to be so far one of the least-controversial items of the budget and as such is expected to be tackled amongst the last item of discussion. The Council meeting on 12 December only discussed the main headlines of the MFF without reaching an agreement. According to press reports, Member States were overall not satisfied by the overall proposal shared by the Finnish Presidency, with concerns being raised, amongst other things, about the overall size of the budget. Negotiations are expected to continue under the Croatian Council Presidency (which takes office on 1 January 2020).
More details can be found here.