Negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council reached an interim agreement on the 2021 budget on Friday 4 December, pending the unblocking of negotiations on the EU’s 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
At their successful conciliation meeting on Friday, the two arms of the budgetary authority set a budget for next year of €164.2 billion in commitment appropriations and €166.1 billion in payment appropriations. The Commission had proposed (taking into account the recent letter of amendment) €164.1 billion in commitments and €166.1 billion in payments. The 2020 budget is €168.6 billion in commitments and €153.5 billion in payments.
Compared to the draft budget plan presented by the European Commission, increases are planned for programmes stimulating growth and employment: Digital Europe (+€25.7 million) and the transport part of the Connecting Europe Facility (+€60.3 million).
The LIFE programme will receive an additional €42 million to help reach 30% of climate-related expenditure in the 2021-2027 MFF. The Rights and Values programme will receive an additional €6.6 million and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office will be able to count on a further €7.3 million.
Matters of priority for the new MFF. Increases in appropriations for 2021 are consistent with the agreement to be confirmed on the 2021-2027 MFF: Erasmus+ (+€175.1 million), Horizon Europe (+€20 million), EU4Health (+€74.3 million).
In addition, commitment appropriations for humanitarian aid have been increased by €25 million and those for support for the EU’s southern neighbourhood by €10.2 million.
The budgetary conciliation period will end on 7 December. As the EU Council and Parliament will not sign a joint text in the Conciliation Committee during this period, due to the deadlock on the 2021-2027 MFF, the Commission will have to present a new draft budget plan.
The Commission has been invited to present this draft budget plan, taking into account the agreement reached in conciliation, as soon as it has sufficient assurances that the MFF will be adopted. This would enable the Council of the EU and Parliament to adopt the 2021 budget quickly.
If it is not possible to adopt the 2021 budget before 1 January 2021, the system of provisional twelfths will apply.
“The budget for 2021 cannot enter into force until the blockade on the MFF and the Recovery Plan is lifted”, said Michael Clauss, German ambassador to the EU. “Without this, we are considering a drastic reduction in EU funding from the beginning of next year”, he warned, referring to the system of ‘provisional twelfths’ (see EUROPE 12614/1).
Once the EU Council has formally adopted the compromise (second draft budget plan), it will be submitted to Parliament’s Committee on Budgets for approval, then voted in plenary at the European Parliament and signed by its President at the mid-December plenary session, if the European Council overcomes the obstacles to the adoption of the 2021-2027 MFF.
More details: https://bit.ly/2VC0KP1 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)