2022 EU budget: European Council agrees its position
Member states’ EU ambassadors yesterday (14 July 2021) agreed the Council’s position on the 2022 EU draft budget. In total, the Council’s position amounts to €167.7 billion in commitments and €170 billion in payments.
The 2022 budget will be complemented by Next Generation EU funds designed to help boost the European economic recovery.
MFF period
The Council conducted a detailed analysis of the 2022 EU draft budget that the Commission presented on 8 June. In order to avoid bigger increases compared to 2021 and to ensure a realistic capacity to absorb funds, it proposes to back-load part of the financing of some budget lines to the second part of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) period.
The Council also stresses that administrative expenditure in the 2022 budget, in particular regarding the level of staff resources, should be in line with the current MFF agreement.
The Council will formally adopt its position by written procedure ending on 6 September and then present it to the European Parliament.
The Parliament is expected to agree on its mandate for the budgetary negotiations during the plenary session of 18-21 October.
If the positions of the two institutions diverge, the 21-day conciliation period will start on 26 October and run until 15 November.
If the Council and the European Parliament do not reach an agreement on the 2022 budget by the end of that period, the Commission will propose a second draft budget.
