EU budget focuses on growth, jobs and a solid response to the refugee crisis
“Investments in growth, jobs and competitiveness in the EU as well as to securing the necessary resources to protect the external borders of the EU, to reinforce security inside and outside the Union, to provide support for the reception and integration of refugees and to address the root causes of migration in the countries of origin and transit ”
It is evident that growth, jobs, investment as well as addressing the refugee crisis are some of the major issues that are marking Jean-Claude Juncker’s presidency of the European Commission. In fact, the Commission is proposing a budget for 2017 that will focus on these priorities.
The Commission’s proposal, published on 30 June, calls for an EU budget of €134.9bn in payments focusing on supporting the ongoing recovery of the European economy and addressing the security and humanitarian challenges in our neighbourhood. As stated in the press release issued by the Commission, the draft budget provides for an increase in funding for “investments in growth, jobs and competitiveness in the EU as well as to securing the necessary resources to protect the external borders of the EU, to reinforce security inside and outside the Union, to provide support for the reception and integration of refugees and to address the root causes of migration in the countries of origin and transit”.
This draft EU budget includes two amounts for each programme to be financed – commitments and payments. "Commitments" refers to the funding that can be agreed in contracts in a given year; "Payments" to the money actually paid out. In the draft 2017 budget, commitments represent €157.7bn (compared to €155bn in 2016) and payments €134.9bn (down from €143.9bn in 2016), the difference being due to the slow take-up of the cohesion programmes for 2014-2020.
The plans for this draft budget were discussed on 12 February when the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) set its priorities for the 2017 budget and adopted relevant conclusions. Apart from setting out certain budgetary details, the Council conclusions also emphasised “the need to improve the predictability of member states' contributions to the Union's budget” and the need for the 2017 budget to be realistic in nature.
It is envisaged that €21.1bn would be dedicated to growth, employment and competitiveness. Part of this financing would be effected through existing funding programmes such as Horizon 2020 (€10.6bn), Erasmus+ (€2bn), COSME (€299m) and the Connecting Europe Facility (€2.5bn). The European Fund for Strategic Investments (€2.66bn) and the European Structural and Investment Funds (€53.57bn) should also feature in the focus of improving growth and jobs within the EU and its member states. The Commission is also proposing support to European farmers amounting to €42.9bn.
On the other hand, the issues of border security and the refugee crisis would take up €5.2bn to reinforce the external borders of the Union and address the refugee crisis, apart from the setting-up and strengthening of systems aimed at improving the EU’s management of illegal migration flows. Security, a theme closely related to these efforts, is also addressed with funds to be allocated to support Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, and the security of EU institutions, among other areas.
This draft budget will now be subject to the scrutiny of the Council and the European Parliament (EP). If there is no agreement between the two institutions, a Conciliation Committee would be set up composed of the members of the Council or their representatives and an equal number of members representing the EP. At this pioint, if no agreement is reached, the European Commission would be forced to draft another EU budget.
The proposed budget is set within the tight limitations set by the EP and member states in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2014-2020.
As stated by European Commission vice-president in charge of budget and human resources, Kristalina Georgieva: "The EU is facing massive challenges and in these difficult times a focused and effective EU budget is not a luxury but a necessity. It helps buffer against shocks, providing a boost to our economy and helping to deal with issues like the refugee crisis. As always, we continue to focus our budget on results, making sure that every euro from the EU budget is well spent."