On Wednesday 5 October, the European Commission proposed an increase of €395 million in humanitarian aid in 2022, in order to respond to geopolitical and economic challenges.
The Commission proposed to modify the draft budget plan for 2023 through its autumn amending letter and adopted ‘Draft Amending Budget 5’.
A key budgetary transfer concerns the reinforcement of the humanitarian aid budget by €395 million in 2022, both to address the global food crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine and to support vulnerable populations in Ukraine and Moldova.
€100 million will be allocated support the rehabilitation of damaged Ukrainian schools, as announced by President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union speech.
For 2023, the Commission proposes a €150 million increase in humanitarian aid, as an urgent response to the consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine, including for the food crisis. In addition, €100 million of Erasmus+ reinforcement will support Ukrainian students, pupils and educational staff. These measures are in addition to the €19 billion secured by Team Europe for Ukraine to date.
The Commission also proposed to reinforce the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) in 2022 and 2023 in order to double the aerial forest fire fighting capacity before the next summers (+€170 million, including the anticipated acquisition of helicopters).
The Commission also proposes to budget the amounts foreseen for the EU short-term defence instrument strengthening European defence industrial capabilities through joint procurement by EU Member States, as proposed in July 2022. The amounts concerned are €83 million in 2022 and €157 million in 2023. These texts must be adopted by the EU Council and the European Parliament.
Link to the draft amending budget: https://aeur.eu/f/3es
Link to the amending letter: https://aeur.eu/f/3er (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)