Representatives of the EU Council and the European Parliament tried on Monday 18 November in Brussels to overcome their differences to find a compromise on the main elements of the EU budget for 2020 (see EUROPE 12370/10, 12369/5).
Parliament and EU Council negotiators left on Friday 15 November, around midnight, without an agreement on the EU budget for next year.
A third compromise proposal from the European Commission was debated on Friday evening but could not be supported by all parties, a source said on Monday 18 November.
The European Commission has presented several compromise texts, all close to its draft budget plan for 2020.
The most discussed topics during the conciliation meeting were the expenditure to be devoted to climate objectives, the youth employment initiative, the total amount of expenditure and the use of Article 15 (3) of the Financial Regulation (‘decommitments’ resulting from the non-implementation of research projects). The conciliation process begins on 18 November. If it fails, the Commission will have to present a new draft budget plan towards the end of November and the budgetary procedure will start again. Last year, an agreement was reached on 4 December on the 2019 EU budget. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)