On Wednesday 23 October in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted its ambitious position on the EU's 2020 budget, providing nearly €2 billion more to meet climate challenges and a total of €170.9 billion in commitment appropriations (an increase of nearly €2.7 billion compared to the draft budgetary plan). For payment appropriations, the total planned level is €159.14 billion.
The European Parliament also decided that €280.7 million should be made available in commitment appropriations following the 'decommitments' made under Article 15(3) of the Financial Regulation". Last year, this process had been hotly debated between the two arms of the budgetary authority.
MEPs are mobilising the whole flexibility instrument and the overall margin for commitments, as well as the margin for unforeseen circumstances. This is what leads the Council to state that the European Parliament has exceeded the thresholds of the EU's multiannual financial framework (MFF).
The Council announced in a press release that it did not accept the European Parliament's budgetary amendments and that, therefore, the conciliation procedure to find a compromise on next year's budget was opened for 3 weeks, starting on 29 October.
In adopting its budget amendments and a report on the 2020 budget, the European Parliament notes that 21% of the commitment appropriations proposed in the draft budgetary plan for 2020 are climate-related and that at least €3.5 billion more should be allocated to climate-related expenditure in order to meet the EU's 20% climate-related expenditure target for the 2014-2020 period.
MEPs also recall that 2020 will be the last year of the current MFF and therefore the last opportunity for the Union to meet its political commitments for this period, in particular to achieve the Union's climate objective, to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), to achieve the European Pillar of Social Rights and to make progress towards the Union's objective of achieving a carbon neutral economy by 2050.
MEPs propose an increase of €363.3 million in commitment appropriations for the youth employment initiative compared to the Commission's draft budgetary plan.
The European Parliament significantly increases (€737.8 million in commitment appropriations) the appropriations allocated to Horizon 2020, in particular for the benefit of research, SMEs, digital transition, artificial intelligence and cancer research. It also increases funding for Erasmus+ and proposes further budgetary increases in the fields of security and justice, customs, migration and foreign policy cooperation, including humanitarian and development aid.
Turkey. The European Parliament considers that it is justified to reduce the allocations granted to Turkey under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (it increases the reductions proposed by the Council by €5 million) and to freeze €100 million (amount to be put into reserve). However, it stresses that this freeze and reduction should not target civil society, Syrian refugees or students.
Next steps. The plenary vote marks the beginning of the 3 weeks of negotiations in conciliation with the Council, with the aim of reaching an agreement between the two institutions. The compromise, once reached, should receive Parliament's approval and be signed by its President during the November II plenary session (25-28 November). In the absence of an agreement, the European Commission is required to submit a new draft budgetary plan. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)