Commitment appropriations for 2018 total €160.1 billion, and payment appropriations €144.7 billion (see below).

On the heels of the Council's formal approval of the conciliation agreement with Parliament on the 2018 budget, Parliament approved the budget by 295 votes to 154, with 197 abstentions. It was then signed into law by President Antonio Tajani.



Youth, growth and jobs

Parliament reversed the Council’s €750 million cuts in the area of “growth and jobs”, and secured an increase for the Youth Employment Initiative of €116.7 million in commitment appropriations, raising the total to €350 million, to help young people desperately seeking a job. Furthermore, MEPs succeeded in securing new resources, on top of the Commission’s budget proposal, for programmes they consider key to boosting growth and jobs, namely Horizon 2020 (research programmes, an increase of €110 million) Erasmus+, (an additional €24 million) and COSME (support for SMEs, up by €15 million).

Refugee and migration crisis, cutting funds for Turkey

Parliament managed to boost the Commission's draft budget for agencies with security-related tasks: Europol (gets an additional €3.7 million and 10 new posts) and Eurojust (receives €1.8 million more and 5 more posts).

To continue tackling the migration crisis, the European Asylum Support Office receives an increase of €5 million. Similarly, Parliament increased the budget heading by €80 million (on top of the draft budget) for the EU’s external actions on migration challenges, which include actions in the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods as well as the Western Balkans.

Concerning Turkey, MEPs decided to cut pre-accession funds by €105 million (with a further €70 million in commitments put in reserve), in response to the deteriorating situation in relation to democracy, rule of law and human rights.

Agriculture and climate protection

Parliament’s negotiating team obtained €34 million in additional support for young farmers to reduce youth unemployment in rural areas. Also, funds to support agricultural practices which benefit the climate and environment were increased by €95 million.

Quotes

Members of the parliamentary negotiating team made the following statements after the votes:



“Parliament can be satisfied with the EU Budget for 2018. We found an agreement because our priorities were to boost the programmes which will prepare the EU for the future and protect Europeans – Research through Horizon 2020, mobility of the young through Erasmus+ and ErasmusPro, infrastructure programmes like the Connecting Europe Facility and support for SMEs through COSME. We also managed to boost funding for security-related programmes, asylum policy and Neighbourhood Policy”, said the Chair of the Budgets committee, Jean Arthuis (ALDE, FR).

“This budget delivers on what EU citizens expect from Europe: jobs and growth on the one hand and security on the other. By investing in research, infrastructure, education and SMEs, we will become more competitive and future-oriented. As for security, we have succeeded in strengthening Europol and Eurojust, so that they ensure better cooperation and coordination in fighting terrorism and organised crime across the EU. Finally, we have made it clear that EU support to countries outside the EU does not come without strings attached: Turkey is drifting away from EU values and we have decided to reduce assistance by 105 million Euros less than the Commission proposal”, said lead rapporteur (Commission section) Siegfried Mureșan (EPP, RO).

What are commitment and payment appropriations?

Given the need to manage actions spanning several years (e.g. financing a research project lasting 2-3 years), the EU budget distinguishes between commitment appropriations (the cost of all legal obligations contracted during the current financial year, possibly bearing consequences in the following years) and payment appropriations (money actually paid out during the current year, possibly to implement commitments entered into in previous years).