On Wednesday 4 July, the European Parliament approved an amending budget that will allow aid of €500 million to be paid out in 2018 as the second tranche of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (see EUROPE 12051).
Parliament adopted (548 votes to 70, with 61 abstentions) the report by Siegfried Mureșan (EPP, Romania) to this effect.
This aid will cover the first payment (€500 million, on top of the €50 million already allocated under the humanitarian aid budget) of the second tranche of €3 billion for the Facility for Refugees in Turkey. This envelope will help child refugees to continue their education in the country.
Budgetisation of the 2017 surplus. Parliament also approved the Council's position on draft amending budget no. 2/2018, which aims only to include the 2017 surplus, in the amount of €555.5 million, in the budget.
Parliament also considers that given the imperative need to provide a swift response to the challenge of migration and the delay in extending the Facility for Refugees in Turkey, the 2017 surplus “could provide an excellent solution to finance the Union contribution to this instrument for 2018 without pushing the Union general budget to its limits”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)