EU Budget 2021 approved: supporting the recovery (Covid-19)
EU Budget 2021 has been approved. Commitment appropriations for 2021 total €164.3 billion; payment appropriations total €166.1 billion.
After Council formally approved the agreement with Parliament on Monday, Parliament approved the budget on Friday (18 December) by 540 votes to 77, with 70 abstentions. It was then signed into law by President David Sassoli.
- Creating jobs
MEPs succeeded in bolstering, on top of the Commission’s budget proposal, programmes they considered key to boosting growth and jobs, reflecting widely agreed European Union priorities, namely Digital Europe (+25.7 million) and the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for transport infrastructure (+€60.3 million).
- Climate change
As a supplementary effort to fight climate change, the additions obtained by the EP for the LIFE programme (+€42 million) aim, from the outset, at contributing to reaching the target of 30% of climate-relevant spending in the EU budget for the 2021-2027 period.
The Rights and Values programme will receive an additional €6.6 million, and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), an independent EU body that fights crimes against the Union budget will benefit from an extra €7.3 million.
MFF top-ups
Other reinforcements for 2021 reflect the top-ups to selected key EU Programmes that Parliament obtained in the deal with Council on the next long-term EU budget (MFF) 2021-2027, approved on 16 December.
This is the case for Erasmus+ (+€175.1 million), Horizon Europe (research programme, +€20 million) and the EU4Health programme, the EU’s response to COVID-19, by a further €74.3 million.
EU4Health will support medical and healthcare staff, patients and health systems.
Similarly, the commitment appropriations for humanitarian aid have been increased by €25 million and for supporting the EU’s southern neighbourhood by €10.2 million.
