25/04/24 (Agence Europe) – At the plenary session on Thursday 25 April, MEPs broadly approved, by 465 votes to 53 with 16 abstentions, the changes to the current EU budget, following the revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework in February, which resulted in an increase of €5.8 billion (see EUROPE 13341/1). The report, presented by MEP Siegfried Mureșan (EPP, Romanian), makes only minor changes to the original legislative text. The major budgetary changes - the €50 billion for the Ukraine Facility and the €376 million increase in the European Defence Fund - were widely supported. The same applies to the ‘Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans’, which will have an initial tranche of €500 million for 2024. (IS)