WIREDGOV

The Budgets Committee demanded more funds, in a vote on Tuesday, to help young people into jobs, to boost economic growth and assist third countries with a view to mitigating the migration crisis. MEPs had earlier reversed all the cuts proposed by the Council to the draft 2017 EU budget. Part of the additional funds are expected to be financed via new appropriations to be obtained through the ongoing mid-term revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

For details on the budget figures and more info, please check the overview table, the draft resolution and thepress release on the votes on the figures (28/09/2016).

“Europe should be big on big issues. Consequently we reinforced the budget lines to support jobs and growth and reversed the cuts made by the member states, who acted against their own priorities”, said lead rapporteur Jens Geier (S&D, DE) after the vote. The draft resolution on Parliament’s position on the EU's budget for 2017 was approved by 29 votes to 7, with 1 abstention.  

Youth, growth and jobs

MEPs added €1.5 billion in commitment appropriations for the Youth Employment Initiative,  to help youngsters desperately seeking a job.

They also decided to reinstate in full the original budgets of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which funds infrastructure projects, and the Horizon 2020 programme, which backs research projects. Both programmes had faced cuts to help fund the EU contribution to the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). The corresponding additional commitments amount to €1.24 billion above the proposed draft budget.

These additional funds should be obtained through the mid-term revision of the EU’s long-term budget (Multiannual Financial Framework, MFF), they said.

MEPs also increased budgets for other programmes, including COSME, Progress, Marie Curie, European Research Council, Eures and Erasmus+.

Refugee and migration crisis

Funding for the EU refugee deal with Turkey and other ad-hoc funds or instruments should not come at the expense of the Union’s existing external action, including its development policy, MEPs said. They “strongly question” whether the funds for projects in third countries are sufficient, especially in view of the current refugee and migration crisis.

MEPs therefore decided to reverse all the Council’s cuts in this area (Heading 4, “Global Europe”), and also to reinstate the 2016 levels for the ENI Mediterranean lines and for humanitarian aid. They also reduced the cuts proposed by the Commission in the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) and the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP).

As a result, they increased the level of commitment appropriations for this heading by €497.9 million and by €495.1 million in payment appropriations above the proposed draft budget.

Agriculture

Budgets Committee members expressed  “strong support” for the agricultural sector in the EU and increased its appropriations by €600 million above the draft budget, to tackle the effects of the dairy sector crisis and the effects of the Russian embargo on the milk sector.

Next steps

Parliament as a whole will vote on 26 October on a proposed budget amounting to €161.8bn in commitments, €4.13bn more than the original Commission proposal. As for payments, MEPs set them at €136.8 billion (original Commission proposal: €134.9 billion in payments).

The plenary vote will kick off three weeks of “conciliation” talks with the Council, with the aim of reaching a deal between the two institutions in time for next year's budget to be voted by Parliament and signed by its President in December.