Negotiations within the Conciliation Committee on the budget for 2024 began on the morning of Friday 10 November (see EUROPE 13290/17). They were concluded during the night, shortly before 2 am, with total commitments set at €189.385 billion and total payments set at €142.630 billion.
To deal with unforeseen circumstances, an amount of around €360 million has been kept available under the spending ceilings of the current Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027.
In detail, the various headings are as follows, according to European Commission figures:
1. Single market, Innovation and Digital: €21.528 billion in commitments and €20.933 billion in payments;
2. Cohesion, Resilience and Values: €74.497 billion in commitments and €33.668 billion in payments;
3. Natural Resources and the Environment: €57.318 billion in commitments and €54.141 billion in payments;
4. Migration and Border Management: €3.896 billion in commitments and €3.258 billion in payments;
5. Security and Defence: €2.311 billion in commitments and €2.028 billion in payments;
6. Neighbourhoods and the World: €16.130 billion in commitments, including €1.9 billion for the humanitarian aid programme to respond to crisis situations around the world, and €15.301 billion in payments;
7. European Public Administration: €11.954 billion in commitments and €11.954 billion in payments;
8. Special instruments: €1.560 billion in commitments and €1.371 billion in payments;
According to the Parliament, the agreement cancels the Member States’ attempts to make cuts (see EUROPE 13249/22, EUROPE 13274/13) and adds almost €670 million to the lines deemed to be priorities.
For example, the Horizon Europe research programme has been boosted by €85 million, Erasmus+ by €60 million and military mobility by €10 million, while, in the context of the war between Hamas and Israel, budgetary allocations have also been increased for humanitarian aid (€250 million) and development aid (€150 million).
“Thanks to this agreement, we have cancelled the cuts proposed by the EU Council that would have had a negative impact on the Union, citizens and businesses”, said the Parliament’s general rapporteur, Siegfried Mureșan (EPP, Romanian). “At a time of unprecedented geopolitical challenges and uncertainty, the EU budget must be strengthened, not weakened, so that we are ready to face any future crisis.”
However, MEPs regret that the EU Council has still not decided on a mid-term review of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which should free up more margins to meet several EU priorities, including the €50 billion Ukraine Facility (see EUROPE 13280/4, 13287/25).
For the European Commissioner for the Budget, Johannes Hahn, this year’s budgetary margins remain narrow and “it is clear that an agreement on the revision of the MFF must be reached in order to fully provide the necessary resources for urgent new needs and to retain sufficient room for manoeuvre to respond to new developments, which are bound to occur”.
Parliament and the EU Council now have 14 days to formally approve the agreement on the 2024 budget. Parliament will hold a plenary vote in Strasbourg at the end of November. The EU Council is also due to vote by qualified majority on 20 November. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)