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Member states’ EU ambassadors yesterday agreed the Council’s position on the 2022 EU draft budget. In total, the Council’s position amounts to €167.7 billion in commitments and €170 billion in payments. The 2022 budget will be complemented by Next Generation EU funds designed to help boost the European economic recovery.

Irena Drmaž, Slovenia's Ministre Délégué for the negotiations of the EU budget yesterday said:

Next year’s budget will play an important role in the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and in increasing resilience to future crises. We put forward a realistic and well-balanced proposal that was supported by the member states. Our aim is to provide adequate resources for the EU’s priorities, such as the green and digital transitions, cohesion and innovation. At the same time, we have to make sure that optimal use is made of the resources. The agreement reached today forms a good basis for the upcoming negotiations with the European Parliament, which we hope will lead to the 2022 budget being adopted in good time.

The Council conducted a detailed analysis of the 2022 EU draft budget that the Commission presented on 8 June. In order to avoid bigger increases compared to 2021 and to ensure a realistic capacity to absorb funds, it proposes to back-load part of the financing of some budget lines to the second part of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) period. The Council also stresses that administrative expenditure in the 2022 budget, in particular regarding the level of staff resources, should be in line with the current MFF agreement.

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