Budget cake
(BRUSSELS) – EU ministers reached an informal agreement with the European Parliament on the 2022 EU budget late on Monday, setting total commitments at EUR 169.5 billion and payments at EUR 170.6 billion.
MEPs say the negotiations with the EU Council yielded better support for health, research, climate action, SMEs and the young in next year’s EU budget.
The budget for next year reflects the EU’s main priorities: economic recovery, fighting climate change, and the green and digital transitions. It also leaves enough resources under the expenditure ceilings of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework to allow the EU to react to unforeseeable needs.
The draft budget would allow the EU to mobilise significant funds for a continued EU response to the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences; to kick-start a sustainable recovery and to protect and create jobs. It would trigger further investments into a greener, more digital and more resilient Europe, while protecting the most vulnerable in its neighbourhood and around the world.
Concretely, it has been agreed to direct:
- 49.7 billion in commitments to support the recovery by boosting investments in economic, social and territorial cohesion;
- 53.1 billion for the Common Agricultural Policy and 971.9 million for the European Maritime, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Fund, for Europe’s farmers and fishermen, but also to strengthen the resilience of the agri-food and fisheries sectors and to provide the necessary scope for crisis management;
- 12.2 billion for Horizon Europe, to support the EU’s research in areas like health, digital, industry, space, climate, energy, and mobility; and 613.5 million for the Single Market Programme, supporting competitiveness and SMEs, including in the tourism sector;
- 839.7 million for the EU4Health programme to support the EU Health Union and to deliver a comprehensive response to the health needs of European citizens;
- 1.2 billion under the Just Transition Fund to make sure the transition to climate neutrality works for all and 755.5 million under the LIFE programme to support environment and climate action;
- 2.8 billion for the Connecting Europe Facility for an up-to-date, high-performance transport infrastructure to facilitate cross-border connections;
- 3.4 billion for Erasmus+ to invest in young people, as well as 406 million for the cultural and creative sectors through the Creative Europe programme;
- 1.1 billion for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and 809.3 million for the Integrated Border Management Fund to step up cooperation on external border management, including 25 million for the protection of the border with Belarus, as well as migration and asylum policy, which also includes additional funding for resettlement pledges;
- 227.1 million for the Internal Security Fund and 945.7 million for the European Defence Fund to support European strategic autonomy and security;
- 15.2 billion to support our neighbours and international development and cooperation. The agreement includes targeted increases for the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) Global Europe (190 million), focusing on Afghanistan and Syria, as well as for the Humanitarian Aid programme (211 million) to address crisis situations across the globe.
Together with the budget for 2022, the EU institutions agreed to endorse proposed amendments to the 2021 budget as tabled by the Commission earlier this year in Draft Amendment Budgets 5 and 6.
Once the approval process has been finalised, the Commission will be able to increase the humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees in Turkey, and to help speed up global vaccinations by providing an additional 200 million doses for low income countries.
