The European Parliament's Committee on Budgets decided on Tuesday 1 October to increase by almost €2 billion the expenditure initially planned in the 2020 budget, in order to strengthen climate programmes.
MEPs have earmarked a budget of €171.3 billion in commitments, €3 billion more than the European Commission's figures (€168.3 billion in commitments). The Committee on Budgets cancelled the reductions in appropriations decided by the EU Council and took advantage of the amounts available under the Flexibility Instrument and Global Margin for Commitments and the rules on the 'release of appropriations corresponding to decommitments'.
The Committee on Budgets has strengthened many programmes that contribute to the fight against climate change, such as the Connecting Europe Facility, climate-related research (Horizon 2020 programme), environmental programmes, as well as those that benefit third countries. The hope is to achieve the EU's 20% investment target for actions to combat climate change in the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
The other important additions made by the European Parliament Committee to the draft budget proposed by the Commission concern the Youth Employment Initiative (+€363.3 million, reaching a total of €480 million in 2020), support for Erasmus+, SMEs, and research and innovation in areas such as digital, health and future technologies.
On 14 October, the Parliament's Committee on Budgets will adopt the reports accompanying the budget amendments. The Parliament as a whole will adopt its position on the draft 2020 budget on 23 October. This vote will mark the beginning of the three weeks of negotiations (conciliation procedure) with the EU Council, with a view to concluding an agreement in November between the two institutions.
To see the MEPs' compromise: https://bit.ly/2mFzgu1(Lionel Changeur)