The Council and the European Parliament today reached agreement on an EU budget for 2020 which strongly focuses on growth and competitiveness, climate action and other EU priorities such as security and management of migration.

Total commitments are set at €168.7 billion. This is an increase of 1.5% compared to the 2019 budget as amended. €1.5 billion have been kept available under the expenditure ceilings of the multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020, allowing the EU to react to unforeseeable needs.

Total payments amount to €153.6 billion, rising 3.4% from 2019. This increase reflects the continuing implementation of the 2014-2020 programmes at full speed. The aim is to ensure timely payments to beneficiaries and avoid a substantial accumulation of payment claims over the next few years, in particular in relation to cohesion policy.

The agreed figures are based on the premise that the UK will continue to participate fully in the financing and implementation of the EU budget for 2020.

Next year’s budget strengthens support for the EU’s priority areas and best-performing programmes. It also ensures a realistic approach, taking into account the interests of taxpayers and the need to cater for new challenges that may arise in 2020. I would like to highlight in particular the move to further “green” the EU budget and ensure that it works in support of the EU’s climate agenda.

Kimmo Tiilikainen, State Secretary, Ministry of Finance of Finland, chief Council negotiator for the 2020 EU budget

The EU has set itself the goal of dedicating at least 20% of EU expenditure to climate protection in the period 2014-2020. To help meet this goal, the Parliament and the Council have agreed to increase the focus on climate-related actions in several areas such as research and development (Horizon 2020), transport and energy infrastructure (Connecting Europe Facility) and the EU’s external action. Additional funds have also been allocated to the EU’s LIFE programme, which will receive €590 million, and the European Environment Agency for recruiting new staff (+6) to support the fight against climate change.

Other important elements of the agreement on the EU budget for 2020 include the following:

• In order to support growth and competitiveness, €25.3 billion (+7.9% compared to 2019) have been allocated to programmes under subheading 1a (competitiveness for growth and jobs). This includes more funds for Horizon 2020 (€13.5 billion in total, +8.8%), European satellite navigation systems (EGNOS and Galileo) (€1.2 billion, +74.8%) and the energy strand of the Connecting Europe Facility (€1.3 billion, +35.0%). Erasmus+ will receive €2.9 billion (+3.6%) to support youth exchanges.
• To fight youth unemployment in the most affected regions, the envelope for the Youth Employment Initiative has been set at €145 million. 
• In the fields of security and migration, the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund has been allocated €949 million for management of migration, including to support the frontline member states. The Internal Security Fund will receive €501 million. Additional funding compared to 2019 will be provided for several agencies, including for new staff to be recruited by FRONTEX (+191), the European Asylum Support Office (+82), Europol (+24) and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (+10). Eurojust will receive an additional €3.7 million.
• The EU’s external action instruments have been reinforced to cover the EU’s contribution to the Syria pledge as agreed during the Brussels III conference on Syria and to combat the root causes of migration via the North Africa window of the EU Trust Fund for Africa.
• As in 2018 and 2019, the pre-accession funds for Turkey have been significantly reduced compared to the draft budget proposed by the Commission (-€85 million) given the distancing of Turkey from EU values. More funds, on the other hand, have been provided for the Western Balkans.

The Council and the Parliament also agreed to further discuss the use of unspent funds from previous years related to research projects under Article 15(3) of the Financial Regulation.

Next steps

The Parliament and the Council now have 14 days to formally approve the agreement reached. The Council is expected to endorse it on 25 November. The vote in the European Parliament is scheduled for 27 November.

Visit the meeting page

On Monday evening, the negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement on the 2020 EU Budget, shortly before the deadline of the conciliation period, ending at midnight.

The preliminary figures are €168.7 billion in commitment appropriations and €153.6 billion in payment appropriations. Detailed figures will be available later.

Climate

Overall, more than €500 million of next year’s EU budget – on top of the Commission’s proposal – will be invested in protecting the climate. This concerns climate-related research projects and programmes such as the LIFE programme, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), financing infrastructure projects, climate-related SME support but also in the areas of development cooperation, and in support of EU neighbours in the East and South.

Youth

The Youth Employment Initiative will be strengthened with €23.8 million, including a joint statement by the Parliament, the Council and the Commission pledging that this will be topped up with €50 million in the summer of 2020 if the Commission confirms this is necessary. In addition, the Erasmus+ exchange programme will be increased by €50 million.

Other figures will be available soon.

Quotes

Jan Van Overtveldt (ECR, BE), Chair of the Committee on Budgets: “I am happy to note that we have succeeded to broker a deal. This is a good sign showing that the EU institutions can deliver. We note with satisfaction that the net increase compared to the Draft Budget presented by the Commission is the biggest under this Multiannual Financial Framework. It is also mainly driven by the priorities which Parliament identified with a big majority of its Members, which in turn shows its added value. In total, between 2019 and 2020, climate-related spending on innovation, research and infrastructure is increased by almost €900 million and the Horizon 2020 research programme by €1.1 billion.”

Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, DE), lead rapporteur (Commission section of the budget): “We have succeeded in adding €850 million for the Parliament’s priorities to the Commission’s draft budget: climate (over €500 million), innovation, research and development and youth. In particular, the research programme Horizon 2020 is increased by €402 million and the Connecting Europe Facility by €133 million thanks to the efforts and the united position of Parliament.”

“I would like to thank the Finnish Presidency for the efforts to bring us to the compromise, which, as any compromise, is not entirely satisfactory. We remain disappointed by the attitude of net payers, who are not willing to put money where the mouth is and put an end to this everlasting discrepancy between the big announcements of the leaders and the reality-check of their finance ministries. We believe and will continue to believe in politics”, Ms Hohlmeier added.

Eider Gardiazabal Rubial (S&D, ES), rapporteur for the other sections: “Faced with an appetite of some for cuts in administration, we managed to secure appropriate levels for the good functioning of the EU institutions.”

Next steps

After Council has formally adopted the compromise, it will be submitted for approval to the Committee on Budgets, then voted on in plenary in the European Parliament (during the November session in Strasbourg) and signed into law by its President.

Around 93% of the EU’s budget goes to citizens, regions, cities, farmers and businesses. The EU’s administrative expenses account for approximately 7% of the total.

Further information

European Parliament: Documents from the 2020 budgetary procedure

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/budg/2020-procedure.html

European Commission: Budgetary documents 2020

https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/eu-budget/documents/annual-budget/2020_en

Committee on Budgets

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/budg/home.html

Infographic on the budgetary procedure

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/en/powers-and-procedures/budgetary-powers

Fact Sheets on the European Union – The budgetary procedure

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/10/the-budgetary-procedure

In light of the continuing rise in violence in Hong Kong, including the latest developments at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, it is crucial that all sides exercise restraint and engage constructively in de-escalation efforts. Any violence is unacceptable. Actions by the law enforcement authorities must remain strictly proportionate, while fundamental freedoms, including the right of peaceful assembly of Hongkongers, must be upheld.

Only confidence building measures, including an inclusive and sincere dialogue, reconciliation and community engagement, can lead to a sustainable solution. A comprehensive inquiry into the violence, use of force and the root causes of the protests is a critical element in de-escalation efforts.

The European Union is willing to support all those who would work towards de-escalation and establishing such a dialogue.

Every effort needs to be made to ensure that the District Council elections on 24 November proceed as planned. This will send an important signal about the exercise of democratic rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Basic Law.

The European Union has close relations with Hong Kong under the ‘one country, two systems’ principle and strongly values its continued stability and prosperity. Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy must be preserved in line with the Basic Law and international commitments. Continued respect for fundamental rights and freedoms and the independence of the judiciary remain essential for the development of Hong Kong.

Years of crises, the increasing clout radical right-wing voices, and a sense of ‘gender fatigue’ have impacted EU governments’ commitment to gender equality. New research from EIGE shows that Member States are allocating less attention to the institutional structures that have helped narrow the gaps between women and men.

“Progress on gender equality cannot be taken for granted,” said Virginija Langbakk, EIGE’s Director. “Governments need to turn up the power and provide adequate resources for the institutional mechanisms that advance gender equality.”

While all Member States have governmental gender equality bodies, several have been demoted in the governmental hierarchy and had their functions decreased. Trends over the past decade have resulted in independent gender equality bodies being merged with other anti-discrimination organisations.

The commitment to gender mainstreaming has weakened since 2012, with only a quarter of Member States performing highly in this field. And while most Member States have the methods and tools to collect gender-disaggregated data, production and dissemination is lacking in several countries. This can make it difficult to adequately assess the situation of gender equality.

“If we want to see progress, gender equality must be woven into each stage of all policy processes, from the collection of sex-disaggregated data to the gender-sensitive evaluation of government action. That is the aim of gender mainstreaming, to which the EU Member States have been committed since 1995 when they adopted the Beijing Platform for Action at the UN World Conference on Women,” said Barbara Limanowska, EIGE’s Gender Mainstreaming Programme Coordinator.

The forthcoming report ‘Institutional Mechanisms for Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming’ compares data from 2018 with data gathered in 2012 to assess trends in governmental commitments to gender equality.

Follow #PowerUpGenderEquality on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for all the latest updates.

Note for editors

The results were obtained following a literature review, as well as a survey of national experts and representatives of national institutions for gender equality in the European Commission’s High-level Group for Gender Equality.

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Joint Eurojust-Europol press release

18 November 2019

An international police operation carried out today, supported by Eurojust and Europol, dismantled an international organised crime group involved in large-scale trafficking of Greek archaeological items looted from Calabria, Italy, resulting in 23 arrests and 103 searches and seizures, yielding approximately 10 000 archaeological goods.

The investigation, which began in 2017, revealed that illegal excavations were managed by a well-structured organised crime group (OCG) carrying out all phases of the trafficking. The OCG, led by two Calabrians living in the province of Crotone, included looters, fences, intermediaries and mules operating out of different Italian regions. The key facilitators from Italy, France, the UK, Germany and Serbia, were operating from Djion, Munich, London and Vršac, coordinating the supply chain. This looting, carried out over the course of several years, caused considerable damage to the Italian cultural heritage.

Eurojust supported the execution of the European Investigation Orders and arranged a coordination centre to follow the action in real time via dedicated and secure lines of communication. The coordination centre enabled the execution of measures, including arrests, searches and seizures, immediately and simultaneously in the five countries, and the timely exchange of information and coordination of all actors involved, including investigative judges, prosecutors and law enforcement authorities.

Europol supported the investigation by coordinating the information exchange, holding several operational meetings, preparing the action day and providing on-the-spot analytical support in Italy to cross-check operational information against Europol’s databases.

National authorities:

• IT: Carabinieri
• DE: Bavarian State Police (Bayerisches Landeskriminalamt (LKA))
• FR: Office central de lutte contre le trafic de biens culturels (OCBC)
• UK: Metropolitan Police, London
• Serbia: Serbian Criminal Investigations Directorate

See also: Eurojust coordination centres

Photos © Carabinieri, IT