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Zagreb - The government on Monday forwarded to the parliament a motion to ratify the Council of the EU decision on the system of own resources of the European Union whereby the upper ceiling for contributions by the member-states will be raised for the purpose of financing the recovery instrument.
The Croatian parliament will discuss the motion on Wednesday. The system of own resources is decided by the Council on the basis of unanimity, having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, and it needs to be ratified by the Member States.
On 28 May 2020, the Commission proposed to borrow up to EUR 750 billion by issuing bonds on international markets on behalf of the EU with maturities of 3 to 30 years, in order to finance a revamped Multiannual Financial Framework and recovery and resilience plan (grants and loans to EU countries).
Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said today that Wednesday's parliamentary discussion would be a good opportunity to inform the public about the EU system of own resources. The EU revenue composition includes: traditional own resources, the VAT-based own resource, the GNI-based own resource, other revenue and the balance carried over from the previous year, and correction mechanisms.
Marić said that two key changes refer to new own resources and to the additional increase in the upper ceiling. The change refers to raising the ceiling on annual calls for own resources from the current level of 1.20% of the EU's GNI (Gross National Income) to 1.29%.
Croatia has not yet passed the threshold of one percent, and this year the planned contribution from the Croatian budget is set at HRK 4.23 billion, according to Marić. The proposal is about raising the upper ceiling from 1.4% to 2% of Gross National Income.
The 0.6 percentage points are connected with the EU decision that during the COVID-19 pandemic the European Commission could be authorised to take out a loan of EUR 750 billion on international financial markets in the context of economic and healthcare needs, the minister said.
New own resources will be based on non-recycled plastic packaging waste.