On Thursday 28 June, the committee on budgets of the European Parliament approved the position of the Council on the €500 million in 2018 to prolong the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (see EUROPE 12047). Draft amending budget no. 3/2018 will be formally approved by Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday 4 July.
Draft amending budget no. 3/2018 was approved with the adoption by the report by Siegfried Muresan (EPP, Romania) by 20 votes to 4, with 2 abstentions. This draft budget will add €500 million in commitment appropriations to the 2018 budget as the EU's contribution to the second tranche, in addition to the €50 million paid out of the existing humanitarian aid budgetary envelope in 2018.
On 14 March 2018, the Commission amended its decision on the Facility in Turkey to allocate an extra €3 billion (a 'second tranche'). It proposed financing an extra €1.45 billion out of the draft 2019 budget.
Parliament regrets that no negotiation on the funding of the second tranche of the Facility has taken place between Parliament and the Council; it would have preferred discussions on this matter to have taken place along with the conciliation on the 2018 budget. The draft budget aims in particular to allow child refugees in Turkey to continue their education, the MEPs stress. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)