Brussels, 20/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 July, the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) unanimously approved the position of the Council of the EU on the draft EU budget for 2017, on the basis of a compromise text of the Slovak Presidency (EUROPE 11597).
On 12 September, the Council will formally approve its position on the draft budget for next year, which features a total of €156.4 billion in commitments and €133.8 billion in payments. This represents €1.3 billion in commitments and €1.1 billion in payments less than the Commission's proposal from the end of June (EUROPE 11584).
The Council's position is equivalent to an increase in commitments by 0.89% and a drop in payments by 7.02% compared to the 2016 budget as modified by the amending budgets 1 and 2. The considerable decrease in payment appropriations is due to the fact that for the cohesion policy, the old 2007-2013 programmes have been finalised (meaning that there are no more large invoices to pay) and the new programmes (from 2014 onwards) are taking their time to reach cruising speed.
Yes to 'contingency margin'. The Council retained the principle, which was supported by the Commission, of making use of the flexibility instrument at a level of €530 million and mobilising the 'contingency margin' (€1.1 billion) to help pay for the EU's measures in 2017 to manage the migration and refugee crisis. This contingency margin makes it possible to increase the upper limit of a heading of the multi-annual financial framework, a budgetary juggling act that is necessary due to the fact that there is no margin left in heading 3 (security and citizenship) as a result of the scale of the refugee crisis. The Commission proposed financing the contingency margin by drawing on the margins in heading 2, 'natural resources', and heading 5, 'administration'. The Council agreed to these details, but suggests taking less from the margin of heading 2, which includes agricultural expenditure.
“More than ever we need to ensure that the EU budget is focused on key priorities and allows the European Union to address the challenges that it is facing. I believe the Council's position responds to this necessity by offering appropriate means to stimulate growth, help creating jobs, reinforce security inside and outside the EU and tackle the migration crisis. It also ensures that the financial resources match the needs”, commented Vazil Hudak, negotiator-in-chief on the EU budget for the Slovak Presidency of the Council.
In the heading 1a, 'growth', the Council intends to focus on: the programme Horizon 2020 (€10.2 billion in commitments and €10.1 billion in payments, representing an increase of 6.9% and 0.7% respectively on the EU budget 2016); - the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), with €2.7 billion in commitments (+29.5%) and €2.3 billion in payments (+341.3%); - Erasmus +, which stands at €2.0 billion in commitments (+16.2%) and €1.9 billion in payments (+4.5%); - European aid for the most deprived (€546 million in commitments and €421 million in payments); - the 'youth employment' initiative (€600 million in payments).
Migration challenges. The Council hopes that the EU budget will continue to grant high levels of credits to help member states to deal with migration flows, in order to protect the external borders of the EU and to fight organised crime and terrorism.
The Council's position provides for €5.2 billion for migration-related expenditure. An envelope of €200 million will be available in emergency humanitarian aid within the EU, an instrument set in place by the Council on 15 March 2016 to help Greece and the other member states of the EU that have been overwhelmed by the arrivals of high numbers of refugees. €750 million have also been earmarked in 2017 to reach the €1 billion contribution from the EU budget (€3 billion in total) under the agreement on the Facility for Refugees in Turkey.
To ensure a high level of security in the European Union, the Council's position contains €738.6 million in commitments and €747.7 million in payments for the Internal Security Fund (this represents an increase of 14.4% and 89.3% respectively compared to the 2016 budget). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)