Brussels, 27/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 27 May, the European Commission presented a fairly tight draft budget for the European Union for 2016, with commitment appropriations down by 5.2% (to €153.5 billion) and a slight increase (+1.6%) in payment appropriations (to €143.5 billion, which represents 0.98% of the gross national income of the EU).
The Commission says that the proposed level of payment appropriations includes the credits needed progressively to reabsorb the backlog of payment claims from the previous programming period (this backlog stood at €24.7 billion at the end of 2014: see other article). The Commission proposal leaves a margin of €1.5 billion under the payment ceiling (of the financial framework 2014-2020) for 2016.
According to the Commission, this draft budget is designed to support the recovery of the European economy and help to improve the standard of living in Europe and elsewhere in the world. Under the “growth” heading, the money earmarked for competitiveness for growth and employment has been increased (+6.1%, to €18.6 billion in commitments, and +11.4%, to €17.5 billion in payments). There is a considerable reduction in economic, social and territorial cohesion: €50.8 billion in commitments (-15.9%) and €49 billion in payments (-4%).
The proposal also contains a provision for contributions to the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), which is the cornerstone of the investment plan for Europe. The draft presented today will be put to the European Parliament and the member states, which will decide the final budget together.
Kristalina Georgieva, Vice-President of the European Commission with responsibility for budget and human resources, said: “In today's economy it is more important than ever to use taxpayers' money wisely. Our 2016 budget supports the economic recovery through investment for growth and jobs, as well as helping manage external challenges such as migration. We are responding to the most pressing needs in Europe and aiming for the best possible results”.
The outlines of the draft EU budget for 2016 are as follows:
Boosting jobs, growth and investment: - nearly half of the credits (€66.58 billion) will be used to stimulate growth, jobs and competitiveness; - support for the political priorities of the European Commission, such as energy union and the digital single market, via programmes such as the Connecting Europe Facility (€1.67 billion in 2016); - €1.8 billion (+30% on 2015) will be allocated to Erasmus+, the European programme for education, training, youth and sport, which will help over four million people to work and study across the EU in 2014-2020; - competitiveness will receive a boost through research and innovation thanks to programmes such as Horizon 2020 (€10 billion in 2016, up 11.6% on 2015); - envelope of €2 billion in commitments and €500 million in payments for the guarantee fund of the EFSI, aiming to mobilise €315 billion in investments for Europe. The EFSI regulation (notably the budgetary aspects of the new investment structure) are currently the subject of negotiations between the European Parliament and the member states; - a total of €42.86 billion will be allocated to agriculture (-1.4%).
Tackling new challenges in Europe and beyond: more money will be made available to tackle today's migration challenges. The budget supports the European Agenda for Migration presented earlier this month, with additional funding for the Triton and Poseidon Operations, increased emergency assistance to front-line member states, funding for an EU-wide resettlement scheme and reinforcing agencies such as Frontex and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). The amount of €833 million has been earmarked in 2016 for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF), the two main sources of funding for the measures under the EU policy on migration and security.
The sum of €9.5 billion in commitments (+28.5%) is proposed, to support the EU's capacity to tackle external crises, such as those affecting Ukraine and Syria, and to provide humanitarian aid to populations in need. The resources of the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) and the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) will be increased, to €2.1 billion (+34%) and €2.7 billion (+27%) respectively.
The proposed administrative expenditure is €7 billion, +2.2%. The administrative expenditure of the Commission will increase by just 1.5% (which broadly corresponds to a freeze in real terms, as inflation is forecast at 1.3% for Brussels and 1.9% for Luxembourg). (Lionel Changeur)