8. Acknowledges the Commission’s assessment that the levels of
debt accumulated by public and private actors restrict the scope for new activities and investments in the Member States; calls, nevertheless, on the Member States neither to consider their national GNI contribution to the EU budget as an adjustmen
t variable in their consolidation efforts, nor to seek to reduce artificially the volume of the EU budget’s growth enhancing expenditure, contrary to the political commitments they have made at the highest level; is, however, f
...[+++]ully aware of the economic tension between the need to consolidate public finances in the short run and any potential increase for some Member States in their GNI-based contribution brought about by an increase in the level of payments in the EU budget; restates, therefore, its strong calls for reform of the financing arrangements for the EU budget – to be agreed in the framework of the 2014-2020 MFF negotiations – by reducing the share of Member States’ GNI-based contributions to the EU budget to 40 % by 2020, thereby contributing to their consolidation efforts;