2018 EU budget: jobs, investments, migration challenge and security

Today, 18 November the EU institutions reached an agreement on the 2018 EU budget– a reflection of the political priorities of the Juncker Commission.

The EU budget helps turn political priorities into a reality. The adopted 2018 EU budget confirms that the EU is directing money to where the needs are. In 2018, and in line with the European Commission proposal from May this year the biggest part of the EU budget will go to stimulate the creation of jobs, especially for young people, and to boost growth, strategic investments and convergence. The EU will also continue supporting the efforts to effectively deal with the migration challenge, both inside and outside of the EU.

Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger, in charge of budget and human resources, said: “This is a budget for all. It will go to create more jobs, more growth, more investments. It will help young people find jobs and internships. It will help making Europe more secure. Every euro must be spent efficiently and create added value for Europe.”

The 2018 EU budget is set at €160.1 billion in commitments (money that can be agreed in contracts in a given year) and €144.7 billion in payment credits (money that will be paid out). Some key features include:

• Nearly half of the funds – €77.5 billion in commitments – will go to making our economy stronger, our universities more competitive, our companies better equipped to compete on the global market place. For instance, €2 billion will go to the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the core of the Juncker Plan, €354 million will support small and medium-sized companies (Competitiveness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, COSME programme) and €11.2 billion will go to Horizon 2020, the EU research and innovation funding programme. A total of €55.5 billion will go to boosting growth, job creation and fostering convergence in all Member States and regions via the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds).
• Young people will get more support and better opportunities to find jobs thanks to €350 million for the Youth Employment Initiative, a key action which seeks to address the challenge of youth unemployment in our Member States.
• Support to European farmers amounts to €59 billion.
• Further to the launch of the European Defence Fund, €40 million is budgeted to fund collaborative research in innovative defence technologies and products. With €25 million already allocated in 2017, the total EU budget devoted to defence research until 2019 amounts to €90 million.
• Nearly €4.1 billion will be dedicated to managing migration and tackling security challenges. With the bulk of funding already frontloaded, the total for these policy areas will amount to €22 billion in the 2015-2018 period.

Background

Every year the European Commission tables a draft EU budget. This year, the Commission tabled its initial proposal on 30 May 2017.

On this basis, the European Parliament and the Council each take a position. This year, the Council formally adopted its position on 4 September 2017, while the European Parliament adopted its position in plenary on 25 October 2017.

Differences between the positions of the European Parliament and the Council are addressed in a negotiation process known as the ‘conciliation procedure’. This year, the 21-day conciliation procedure ran from 31 October until 20 November.

The negotiations are conducted by a specially convened Conciliation Committee, to which the European Parliament and the Council each send 28 representatives. The European Commission – the Commissioner in charge of the budget as well as experts from the Directorate-General for Budget – play the important role of an honest broker.

Next steps

To seal the compromise reached today, the European Parliament and the Council both have to formally approve the text within 14-days.