WIREDGOV

For next year’s EU budget, MEPs secured better and more effective support for addressing the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the pandemic recovery process.

In a deal with member states on Monday, 14 November, Parliament obtained €1.05 billion for its priorities on top of what the Commission had initially proposed in the draft budget. MEPs increased funding for programmes and policies they see as vital for addressing the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, contributing to the post-pandemic recovery and strengthening the green and digital transitions, in line with the priorities Parliament set out in its guidelines for 2023.

The 2023 budget was adopted with 492 votes to 66 and 46 abstentions.

Consequences of the war in Ukraine

MEPs secured additional funding for programmes including:

• Erasmus+with €120 million to support students and teachers from Ukraine,
• humanitarian aid, plus €150 million,
• the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fundwith a €36.5 million top-up,
• the Border Management and Visa Instrument, plus €10 million,
• the “Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument” (NDICI – Global Europe) for the EU’s southern and eastern neighbourhood with €280 million, and
• Military Mobility with €58.8 million.

Energy and climate

MEPs managed to increase funding for encouraging EU energy independence and to support citizens and SMEs with their high energy bills, while backing the green transition and biodiversity. Programmes with additional support include:

• the Horizon Europeresearch programme (+€10 million),
• the Connecting Europe Facility, which funds the construction of high-quality and sustainable trans-European transport and energy networks (+€103.5 million),
• the environment and climate action LIFE programme (+€30 million).

The lessons of the pandemic: health, better preparedness, culture and values

MEPs restored a €200 million cut by the Council to the EU4Health programme and obtained another €7.5 million, their argument for additional funding being that the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over, resulting in the need to support national health systems to become more resilient. Further priorities Parliament fought for and obtained additional support include:

• the EU Civil Protection Mechanism(UCPM, +€41.4 million),
• the Creative Europe Programme (+€7.5 million),
• the Rights and Values programme (+€3 million) and the European Public Prosecutor's Office(EPPO, +€2.5 million).

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