Brussels, 16/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 14 November, the institutions of the EU reached a compromise on the various elements of the EU budget for 2016, including an increase (by more than €2 billion) of credits to tackle the migrant crisis.
Meeting in the conciliation committee, the Council and the European Parliament agreed on a total budget for next year of €155 billion in commitment appropriations and €149.89 billion in payment appropriations. Amongst other things, €698 million have been earmarked to tackle the agriculture crisis (dairy and pork meat sectors).
An initial draft agreement was presented on the evening of Friday 30 November, but the margin it contained was felt by the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU to be insufficient.
Heading 1a 'competitiveness' (€19 billion in commitments and €17.4 billion in payments): commitments have been set at the level of the draft budget 2016 presented by the Commission (taking account of amending letters 1 and 2). However, a few adjustments have been made: +€31.8 million for the programme 'Horizon 2020' (or a total of €9.54 billion for this programme), +€14.2 million for the programme COSME (which aims to facilitate access to financing for SMEs) and +€6.6 million for Erasmus. There is no remaining margin under this heading.
Heading 1b 'cohesion' (€50.8 billion in commitments and €48.8 billion in payments): the agreement features the amounts initially proposed by the Commission. There is a remaining margin (in commitments) of just €5.8 million.
Heading 2 'sustainable growth' (€62.5 billion in commitments and €55.1 in payments): there is a reduction of €139.8 million in this heading. In commitments, there is a remaining margin of €1.8 billion. If required, therefore, there is some leeway under this heading to manage crises.
Heading 3 'security and citizenship' (€4.1 billion in commitments and €3 billion in payments): taking account of the amending letters (+€1.55 billion in commitments and +€1.42 billion in payments to manage the migration crisis), the ceiling of this heading has been overreached by €1.5 billion, due to the mobilisation of the flexibility instrument.
Heading 4 'global Europe' (€9.2 billion in commitments and €10.1 billion in payments): the Commission's initial draft has been taken up, but with a few adjustments: +€132 million in total (including +€26 million for humanitarian aid and food aid, +€18 million for Palestine, and +€28 million for the Mediterranean countries). There is no more margin under this heading and the flexibility instrument has even been mobilised to the tune of €24 million.
Heading 5 'administration' (€9 billion in commitments and €8.9 billion in payments): as regards the commitment made by the institutions of the EU (to reduce their staff numbers by 5% over the period 2013-2017), the EP has pledged to achieve this target by 2019, but has excluded the obligation to reduce temporary positions for the political groups from the scope of application of the obligation. The EP has adopted a declaration on the subject.
Special instruments (€525 million in commitments and €389 million in payments).
Commenting on the compromise on the 2016 budget, Pierre Gramegna, the finance minister of Luxembourg and President-in-exercise of the Council, referred to “success achieved by unanimity of the member states. This budget is one of solidarity and measures to boost growth, create jobs and tackle the migration crisis”. He went on to say that in 2016, there was nearly €70 billion for programmes such as Horizon 2020, to help Europe find its way back to growth. He noted that margin has been preserved in order to tackle unforeseen situations, such as acts of terrorism and the migrant crisis.
Jean Arthuis (ALDE, France), president of the committee on budgets of the EP, said that while the EP had not managed to secure additional funding in 2016 for the youth employment initiative, a declaration had been adopted stressing the need to carry out an assessment, in 2016, of what has been done under this programme in 2014 and 2015, “and we have undertaken to devise the most relevant programmes”. Arthuis also called for a mid-term review, in 2016, of the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020. “This framework is both a reflection of the past and in anticipation of what is to come. When Europe faces major crises, such as the migration crisis, we struggle to find the right response and the resources we need to help to regulate these migratory flows”, Arthuis said.
It is important to meet challenges, noted the Commissioner for the Budget, Kristalina Georgieva. This budget will allow us to reinforce our ability to manage the refugee crisis, she stressed. We also need to continue to support growth in Europe. She said that there was a total of €10 billion in 2015 and 2016 to manage the migration crisis. She emphasised the need to continue to apply budgetary rigour. The Council and the Parliament have still formally to adopt the compromise reached on the night of Friday to Saturday: they will do so on 24 and 25 November respectively. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)