EU Budget for 2020: More Money for the Climate Change

MEPs adopted their position on the EU budget on Wednesday, noting that it should be "a solid starting point for launching a new generation of EU programs".

In its draft resolution, the EP stresses that the EU budget for 2020 is "the last opportunity for the EU to move closer to delivering on its political promises for the period, including towards meeting the EU's climate targets". It must pave the way for the EU's long-term budget for the period 2021-2027, the so-called Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

MEPs have increased the draft budget proposed by the Commission, adding more than € 2 billion to climate protection. In addition, they increased the budget of the Youth Employment Initiative and the Erasmus + programs and approved additional support, in line with Parliament's priorities, for small and medium-sized enterprises, digitalization, migration and foreign policy, as well as for development and humanitarian aid.

Parliament votes on a budget of around 171 billion euros in commitments (a value the EU pledges to invest in 2020 and years after, as projects and programs are implemented over several years), an increase of about 2.7 billion EUR compared to the Commission draft budget. In this way, payment appropriations (to be spent in 2020 in particular) will amount to EUR 159 billion.

The briefing is available here.

Next steps

The plenary vote will launch a three-week period for 'reconciliation' talks with the Council of the EU. The aim is to reach an agreement between the two institutions in time to allow Parliament to vote on the budget in the second of November (25-28 November) and to formally sign it. If no agreement is reached, the Commission must propose a new draft budget.

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