2022 general budget: all sections

2021/0227(BUD) 24/11/2021

The European Parliament adopted by 550 votes to 77, with 62 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the joint text of the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022, approved by the Conciliation Committee under the budgetary procedure.

(A) 2022 Budget

Parliament approved the joint text, the main elements of which are as follows

- the overall amount of commitment appropriations for the 2022 budget is set at EUR 169 515.8 million. Overall, this leaves a margin below the MFF ceilings for 2022 of EUR 1 167.8 million in commitment appropriations;

- the overall amount of payment appropriations is set at EUR 170 603.3 million. Overall, this leaves a margin below the 2022 MFF ceilings of EUR 1 695.8 million in payment appropriations;

- the Flexibility Instrument for 2022 is mobilised, in commitment appropriations, for an amount of EUR 368.4 million for heading 6 of the multiannual financial framework ‘Neighbourhood and the World’.

The Commission estimates payment appropriations for 2022 for the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 at EUR 467.2 million.

(B) Cross-cutting issues

The EU contribution (in commitment and payment appropriations) and the number of posts for all decentralised agencies are fixed at the level proposed by the Commission in the draft budget for 2022 as amended by Amending Letter No 1/2022, with the exception of the following agencies: (i) Eurojust (+EUR 380 000); (ii) European Public Prosecutor's Office (+EUR 3 750 000); (iii) European Asylum Support Office (+EUR 380 000); (iv) Frontex (-EUR 65 000 000).

The commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the draft budget as amended by Amending Letter No 1/2022, but with the adjustments agreed by the Conciliation Committee.

- Heading 1 - Single market, innovation and digital

The agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 21 775.1 million, leaving a margin of EUR 102.9 million under the expenditure ceiling of heading 1.

From the increase of EUR 30 million in commitment appropriations for the Single Market Programme, EUR 10 million is to be dedicated to providing various forms of support to the tourism sector.

The Conciliation Committee agrees to make commitment appropriations available again on the research budget lines for a total of EUR 117.3 million in commitment appropriations, i.e. an increase of EUR 40 million as compared to the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2022.

- Sub-heading 2a - Economic, social and territorial cohesion

The agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 49 708.8 million, leaving a margin of EUR 30.2 million under the expenditure ceiling of Sub-heading 2a.

- Sub-heading 2b - Resilience and values

The agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 6 330.2 million, leaving a margin of EUR 130.8 million under the expenditure ceiling of Sub-heading 2b.

The appropriations on the budget line for the European Union Instrument for Recovery can be reduced by EUR 244.7 million while fully preserving the capacity to finance the grant component of NextGenerationEU in 2022. A further EUR 20 million will be backloaded to 2027, to offset a corresponding frontloading for EU4Health.

The increase of EUR 3 million in commitment appropriations for the European Solidarity Corps and EUR 5 million from the increase of EUR 35 million in commitment appropriations for Erasmus+ are to be dedicated to preparing and carrying out activities in line with the European Year of Youth 2022.

- Heading 3 - Natural Resources and environment

The agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 56 235.4 million, leaving a margin of EUR 283.6 million under the expenditure ceiling of the heading, of which EUR 270.1 million is the sub-margin for ‘Market related expenditure and direct payments’.

- Heading 4 - Migration and border management

The agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 3 091.2 million, leaving a margin of EUR 99.8 million under the expenditure ceiling of the heading.

An increase of EUR 20 million is to be dedicated to the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund for the financing of the resettlement of Afghan refugees and an increase of EUR 25 million is to be dedicated to the Integrated Border Management Fund for the management of the migrant crisis at the border of Belarus.

- Heading 5 - Security and defence

The level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 1 785.3 million, leaving a margin of EUR 82.7 million under the expenditure ceiling of the heading.

- Heading 6 - Neighbourhood and the World

The agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 17 170.4 million, with no margin left under the expenditure ceiling of heading 6 and the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 368.4 million. For the Neighbourhood, Development Cooperation and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe, the increases in commitment appropriations of EUR 75 million (Emerging challenges and priorities cushion) and EUR 50 million (People - Global Challenges) are to be dedicated to the measures to fight the pandemic, including vaccines.

- Heading 7 - European public administration

The agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 10 620.1 million, leaving a margin of EUR 437.9 million under the expenditure ceiling of heading 7, of which EUR 240.1 million under the sub-margin for ‘Administrative expenditure of the institutions’.

The number of posts in the establishment plans of the institutions and the appropriations proposed by the Commission in the draft budget as amended by Amending Letter No 1/2022 are approved by the Conciliation Committee, with the exception of the sections relating to the European Parliament which the reading is approved, the Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) and the European External Action Service (EEAS).

(D) Statements by the institutions

Parliament also confirmed the statements of Parliament, the Council and the Commission annexed to the resolution, which concern in particular:

- payment appropriations: the Commission is invited to present, in a timely manner, updated figures concerning the state of affairs and estimates regarding 2022 payment appropriations and to present an appropriate solution if the appropriations entered in the 2022 budget are insufficient to cover the needs;

- the cost of financing the European Union Recovery Instrument (EURI) in 2022: since no repayments of the principal will be possible in 2022, an amount of EUR 90 million, of which EUR 70 million is already included in the draft budget, will be backloaded to 2027: it can then be used either for interest payments or for early repayments. This backloading is off-set by a corresponding front-loading of funds for the EU Health Programme;

- combating child poverty under the European Social Fund Plus: this is of even greater importance, particularly in the context of the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, and should be sufficiently resourced;

- the provision of maximum resources for natural disasters under the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) part of the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve in 2022;

- the commitment of the three institutions to review the evolution of the pandemic response by the end of June 2022, notably with regard to international vaccinations and will on this basis consider any necessary action as proposed by the Commission;

- the Commission's commitment to ensure that the average annual funding for migration for the Southern Neighbourhood from the Global Europe envelope and, if necessary, from other instruments, remains at least at the level envisaged for 2022.

Budgetary joint text approved by Parliament