On Wednesday 5 June, the European Commission unveiled the European Union's draft budget plan for 2020, which includes €168.3 billion in commitment appropriations (0.99% of GNI and +1.3% compared to 2019) and €153.7 billion in payment appropriations (0.9% of GNI and +3.5% compared to 2019).
"This is the latest draft budget plan of the 'Juncker' Commission and the current programming period", said Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger, who reserved the first draft of the document for the European Parliament's Committee on Budgets. He referred to a "continuity" budget that includes the thematic priorities already identified: growth and employment, especially for young people, the fight against climate change, migration and citizens' security.
The European Commission is also trying to establish a link with the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027, in particular by significantly increasing appropriations for research. €13.2 billion would be allocated to the Horizon 2020 framework programme (+6.4% compared to 2019).
The Galileo satellite radio-navigation system will receive €1.2 billion (+75% compared to 2019) to support its market penetration. In addition, pending the creation of the European Defence Fund after 2020, the EDIDP Programme will be endowed with €255 million to encourage European companies to work together to develop defence products and technologies.
Concerning policies to support young people, the Commission proposes to allocate €2.8 billion to the Erasmus+ mobility programme and €117 billion to the Youth Employment Initiative.
According to Mr Oettinger, 21% of the 2020 budget should be allocated to climate protection. If this is the case, a ratio of 19.4% of the EU budget over the period 2014-2019 will have been mobilised for this objective. He recalled that the Commission had proposed that this ratio be increased to 25% for the period 2021-2027.
For heading 3 'Security and citizenship', the commitment appropriations highlighted would exceed the ceilings set thanks to the mobilisation of "€778 million" from the flexibility instrument, Mr Oettinger said. And payment appropriations would be increased by 5.6% to take into account the urgency of the actions foreseen within this budget heading.
€420.6 million (+34.6% compared to 2019) would be allocated to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (ex-Frontex) to contribute to the establishment of a permanent corps of 10,000 border guards by 2027. €560 million would be made available for people in need in Syria and for refugees and their host communities in the region, in line with the commitments made at the Brussels III conference on the future of Syria in 2019.
As for Turkey's pre-accession assistance (IPA II) to the EU, the envelope the Commission proposes to allocate next year would be the same as that of 2019, which had been reduced by mutual agreement between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, to roughly €250 million.
On administrative expenditure, the Commissioner suggested that the post-2020 MFF set up a "pension fund" to smooth out the peak expenditure expected in 2030.
Brexit. The 2020 budget was drawn up on the principle of keeping the United Kingdom in the Union. If this country leaves the EU by approving the withdrawal agreement, there will also be no loss of income.
But in the event of a no-deal Brexit at the end of October, Mr Oettinger told the press, there would be a shortfall of "€12 billion". An amending budget would then be necessary and negotiations would begin to identify the budget cuts to be made.
Leaving the House on Wednesday, Jean Arthuis, Chairman of the Committee on Budgets, expressed regret that, all too often, the European Parliament submits to the wishes of the Member States.
After the publication of the draft budget plan by the Commission in June, "the Council of the EU passes its plane" in July with "a technocratic gesture" in order to keep the budget "below the 1% of European GDP mark", he remarked. Criticising the lack of willingness of Member States to act truly together, the French Liberal deplored that the European Parliament had "always ended up submitting to the Council of the EU's vision", noting nevertheless some satisfaction in supporting youth policies. In his view, Member States will take into account the European Parliament's position when it is able to ensure that it is respected, why not by causing the interinstitutional budgetary negotiations to fail.
See the draft budget plan 2020: http://bit.ly/31dwXOb (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)