MNI BRIEF: EC, ECB Warn On Slow Own Resource Hike Ratification

EU member states must avoid any delays in national ratifications for the proposed rise in EU 'own resources', Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde have said Tuesday, as the process seems to have got off to a somewhat slow start, EU sources told MNI said.

One source confirmed the appeal, while others acknowledged that so far only two countries have submitted their official decision to the Council Secretariat and, while more countries have granted cabinet-level approval, most national parliaments have yet to give their approval. The Netherlands particularly may be late in giving its approval, following the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the weekend, following a welfare payment scandal, with one source saying that Netherlands would only start its process following a March general election.

The rise in so-called 'own resources', the financial resources which member states provide to the EU each year, is key to financing the bonds which are due to be issued under the bloc's Recovery and Resilience Facility from the summer of this year.