PURPOSE: definitive adoption of the European Union’s general budget for 2020.
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Definitive adoption (EU, Euratom) 2020/227 of the European Union’s general budget for the financial year 2020.
CONTENT: the European Parliament voted to adopt the 2020 EU budget, in accordance with the overall compromise reached in the Conciliation Committee under the budgetary procedure of 20 November 2020.
The 2020 budget shall continue to support growth and the competitiveness of the European economy, as well as other EU priorities, such as security and the management of migration. 21% of the budget shall go towards measures aimed at addressing climate change.
Budget 2020
These figures represent a variation rate of + 1.50 % and of + 3.42 % respectively by comparison with the 2019 budget. The increase in payments reflects the continuing implementation of the 2014-2020 programmes at full speed.
Revenue
Budgetary revenue totals EUR 153 566 205 917. The uniform rate of call for the VAT resource is 0.30 % (except for Germany, Netherlands and Sweden for which the rate of call for the period 2014-2020 has been fixed at 0.15 %) whilst that for the GNI resource is 0.6507 %. Traditional own resources account for 14.43 % of the financing of the budget for 2020. The VAT resource accounts for 12.34 % and the GNI resource for 71.98 %.
Other revenue for this financial year is estimated at EUR 1 928 450 061.
The own resources needed to finance the 2020 budget account for 0.89 % of the total GNI.
Expenditure headings of the financial framework - commitment appropriations (C/A)
Heading 1a - Competitiveness for growth and jobs
The agreed level of C/A is set at EUR 25 284.8 million (of which EUR 302 million for Horizon 2020 and EUR 50 million for Erasmus+), without leaving a margin under the expenditure ceiling of heading 1a and using the overall margin for commitments of EUR 93.8 million.
Additional funds have been allocated to the Horizon 2020 research programme (EUR 13.5 billion in total, + 8.8 %), the European satellite navigation systems (EGNOS and Galileo) (EUR 1.2 billion, + 74.8 %) and the energy part of the Connecting Europe Facility (EUR 1.3 billion, + 35.0 %). Erasmus+ shall receive EUR 2.9 billion (+3.6%) to support youth exchanges.
Heading 1b - Economic, social and territorial cohesion
The agreed level of C/A is set at EUR 58 645.8 million (including an additional EUR 28.3 million for the Youth Employment Initiative), without leaving a margin under the expenditure ceiling of subheading 1b and using the overall margin for commitments of EUR 175.8 million.
Heading 2 - Sustainable growth: Natural resources
The level of C/A is set at EUR 59 907.0 million, leaving a margin of EUR 514.0 million under the expenditure ceiling of heading 2.
Heading 3 - Security and citizenship
The agreed level of C/A is set at EUR 3 729.1 million, without leaving a margin under the expenditure ceiling of heading 3 and by mobilising the flexibility instrument for an amount of EUR 778.1 million.
The Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund received EUR 949 million for migration management. The Internal Security Fund shall receive EUR 501 million. Additional funding compared to 2019 shall be provided to several agencies, including for the recruitment of new staff by Frontex, the European Asylum Support Office, Europol and the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
Heading 4 - Global Europe
The level of C/A is set at EUR 10 261.6 million, leaving a margin of EUR 248.4 million below the expenditure ceiling of heading 4.
Heading 5 - Administration
The agreed level of C/A is set at EUR 10 272.1 million, leaving a margin of EUR 729.9 million below the expenditure ceiling of heading 5, after using EUR 252.0 million of the margin to offset the mobilisation of the contingency margin in 2017.
Special instruments
Commitments are set at EUR 588 million. Special instruments provide some flexibility and allow, if need be, to respond to unforeseen budgetary needs.
Further elements of the budget include:
- the Flexibility Instrument for 2020 is mobilised in commitment appropriations for an amount of EUR 778.1 million for heading 3 Security and Citizenship;
- the Global margin for commitments is used at a level of EUR 269.6 million for headings 1a Competitiveness for Growth and Jobs and 1b Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion;
- the Contingency margin mobilised in 2017 is offset for EUR 252 million against the unallocated margins under heading 5 Administration;
- the 2020 payment appropriations related to the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 are estimated by the Commission at EUR 849.8 million.