The Conciliation Committee met for the second time on Friday 10 November to try to reach an agreement between the EU Council and the European Parliament on the EU budget for 2024 before the end of the conciliation period on Monday 13 November. At the time of going to press, negotiations were still underway.
In the morning, the EU Council held a public session to prepare for the meeting and draw up a list of priorities for each Member State.
The European Commission also expressed its views, revisiting its budget proposal from June (see EUROPE 13196/13) and its October letter of amendment, which, among other things, revised downwards the requirements for the NextGenerationEU interest line due to a lower level of disbursements in 2023 than previously estimated.
The vast majority of Member States were in favour of the Council’s position adopted in July, which they described as a “good basis” for negotiations with Parliament, with total commitments of €187.008,20 million and total payments of €141.167,37 million (see EUROPE 13221/22).
In its amendments, the European Parliament set total commitments at €196.987,4 million and total payments at €149.083,9 million (see EUROPE 13274/13).
It has also proposed a revision of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) (see EUROPE 13263/7), which it has taken into account in drawing up its 2024 budget position.
This is a choice that the EU Council regrets, as it can only consider negotiations on the 2024 budget based on the current MFF. A revision is still to be discussed by the Heads of State or Government at the December European Council (see EUROPE 13280/4).
The Commissioner for the Budget, Johannes Hahn, recalled that a reduction in payment appropriations had been proposed for the 2024 budget, which, according to him, would leave a margin of around €341 million for commitments and around €31 billion for payments.
“We will have €736.4 million remaining in the single margin instrument; it is essential to keep these funds available to meet new needs that will arise sooner or later”, he explained.
A number of Member States reiterated the importance of having sufficient room for manoeuvre and welcomed the joint declaration on payments, “which should enable us to mobilise additional funds during the financial year and which we consider necessary in the final compromise”, explained Poland.
During the debate, several EU countries supported the use of special instruments only if justified.
Some participants returned to heading 7, which concerns public administration, for which the Commission stressed the need to mobilise the single margin instrument. For Finland, it is necessary that “administrative costs and the level of staff recruitment in the agencies” be “moderate”, taking inflation into account.
Some countries, such as Italy, set out their priorities in terms of cohesion, agriculture and migration.
Bulgaria reiterated its desire for an increase in the Europol budget, while Luxembourg insisted on the importance of increasing the appropriations for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Poland, for its part, said that humanitarian support for Gaza could not be provided at the expense of Ukraine.
Several countries also asked that the increase in commitments be followed by a corresponding increase in payments, “otherwise this could artificially create arrears, which should be avoided”, as detailed by Hungary.
With regard to the European Parliament’s proposal, some countries were open to a degree of “flexibility” concerning military mobility and transport needs, as well as environment and climate programmes and a strengthening of the EU’s asylum agency.
If the Conciliation Committee fails to reach an agreement by midnight on Monday 13 November, the Commission will have to present a new draft budget plan and the budgetary procedure will begin again. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)