BOSANAC: WE TABLED OVER 600 AMENDMENTS FOR THE NEW EU BUDGET

Strasbourg, June 18, 2026 - The Greens / EFA Group in the European Parliament submitted over 600 amendments to the proposal for a key part of the new seven-year European budget – the Fund for National and Regional Partnership Plans, on which the group's shadow rapporteur worked Gordan Bosanac, MEP for Možemo! 

‍

“Every Member State should allocate a portion of its budget, received through the National and Regional Partnership Plan, for the purpose of public, affordable, and social housing. When we worked on the topic of affordability, we drafted amendments with the aim of enabling young people, as well as individuals with lower and middle incomes, to rent or purchase housing, based on a limited-profit or cooperative model.”, Bosanac emphasized, speaking about the priority objectives on the occasion of submitting the amendments for further procedure in the European Parliament. 

‍

More specifically, in addition to requiring all Member States to include a dedicated chapter on housing in their National Plans for Regional Partnerships and to allocate a portion of their budget for this purpose, we also demand that housing be affordable, social, accessible, and sustainable, which is why we placed additional emphasis on building renovation, and on supporting public, municipal, non-profit, and cooperative housing projects, both in cities and in rural and suburban areas. Furthermore, we emphasized energy efficiency through financial instruments that constitute the Consumer and Energy Communities Investment Component, the MEP explained.

In addition to housing, our amendments requested 1.5 billion euros, with the possibility of an increase, for financing the European Urban Initiative, as a key instrument for direct financing of cities, without the mediation of national authorities, explains Gordan Bosanac. 

“This further emphasizes the already recognized key role of cities in implementing the most important European policies, such as the fight against climate change, the aforementioned housing, and the social inclusion of vulnerable groups. Through the European Urban Initiative, we provide cities with an additional tool to better respond to the needs of their local communities, which city administrations know best.”, he said. 

As they strongly advocate for a greater role for local authorities in the preparation and implementation of the National and Regional Partnership Plan, the Greens have submitted amendments that will give cities and other regional and local authorities real influence and power in the process of drafting and implementing national plans. 

This is particularly important, Bosanac explains, because in numerous Member States, including Croatia, political parties in power at the national level neglect projects in cities and regions that are not under the control of the political party holding power at the national level. 

Thus, the Greens propose that if local and regional authorities believe their views have not been taken into account, they will be able to submit reasoned objections to the European Commission. The Commission will then have the authority to suspend the assessment of the national plan or halt fund disbursements until the partnership principle is respected. Additionally, partners, including cities and regions, gain a stronger role in program monitoring committees, to prevent centralized decision-making in the future and ensure that EU funds are invested in accordance with the real needs of local communities.

Finally, a series of amendments has also been submitted ensuring that a significant portion of funds (up to 20 percent) must be spent on social objectives, as well as on nature conservation and biodiversity goals in the EU.

‍