The European Parliament adopted by 338 votes to 148, with 46 abstentions, a resolution on Parliament’s estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2025.
As the budget proposed on 26 February 2024 by the Secretary-General for Parliament’s preliminary draft estimates for 2025 amounts to EUR 2 507 233 329 and represents an increase of 5.21 % or EUR 124 132 017 compared to 2024 budget.
Parliament finalised its deep reform process started last year to, on one hand review its internal working methods making parliamentary work more efficient, and on the other hand to strengthen its institutional role leading to a better functioning Parliament as co-legislator, as arm of the budgetary authority, as discharge authority and increasing its capacity to exercise democratic oversight.
General framework
Parliament is concerned with the situation of Heading 7 (European Public Administration) in the current MFF. It regrets the Council’s opposition to the Commission’s proposal to increase the ceiling of Heading 7 in the MFF revision as from 2024.
The 2024 budget includes a salary indexation of 3.4 % as from July 2024.
Parliament endorsed the agreement reached in the Conciliation between the Bureau and the Committee on Budgets on 9 April 2024 to set the increase over the 2024 budget at 4.87 %, corresponding to an overall level of estimates of EUR 2 499 233 329 for 2025.
Visitors groups
The resolution recalled that visitors groups in all the places of work of the Parliament represent an important tool for Members to connect with constituents and to demonstrate their parliamentary work to constituents. Visitors groups contribute to promoting the role of the Parliament to voters throughout the Union.
Noting with concern the increasing difficulties of arranging such visits due to the financial limitations of the existing budget, particularly for Members from Member States that are geographically far from Brussels and Strasbourg, Parliament called for sufficient funding to cover expenses related to travel and accommodation, taking into account the inflation rates and prices, both in the countries of origin of the visitor groups and Brussels and Strasbourg. It believes that a 10 % increase in the per-person allocation is necessary to address the prevailing conditions.
The Bureau is called on to review and update its existing internal rules governing MEP visitor groups to overcome difficulties in the planning and organization of visits.
Infrastructure
The resolution took note that the Committee on Budgets approved the Bureau’s decision to carry out a profound renovation of the SPAAK building. The current building has a very low energy efficiency rating and lacks much needed flexibility to be fit for purpose. Renovation works should be started in 2025 to the TREVES II building in order to facilitate the temporary accommodation of staff that will be displaced as part of the renovations of the SPAAK building.
Members welcomed the continuous efforts and measures put in place by the Parliament in order to reduce its environmental footprint.
Other issues
The resolution recalls Parliament’s strong support for multilingualism and promotes the rights of the national, regional and linguistic minorities. Moreover, Parliament should actively contribute to the fight against disinformation by deepening its communication also in linguistic minorities and communities languages where appropriate.
Stressing the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for supporting Members to exercise their mandate and for various activities of the Parliament’s administration, Parliament welcomed that projects in AI are already in the pipeline for 2025.
Parliament is called on to continue conducting regular assessments of the organisation of its personnel needs, to optimise the repartition of staff in Parliament’s Secretariat, notably by reallocating vacant posts between services in order to maintain as much as possible constant staffing levels.
Parliament adopts the estimates for the financial year 2025.