European Parliament Alerts from the Budgets committee

Highlights - Vote on EU guarantee to the European Investment Bank and External Guarantee Fund - Committee on Budgets 07-12-2017 02:44 PM CET On 29 November, EP and Council reached a provisional agreement on the External Lending Mandate and the Guarantee Fund for External Actions (GFEA). The agreement's terms were adopted in BUDG on 4 December. Under the ELM, the EU provides a budgetary guarantee to the EIB for loan and loan guarantee operations outside the EU in support of EU external policy objectives. The GFEA protects the EU budget from shocks that might otherwise occur in case of defaults on loans guaranteed by the EU. A total of 9 trilogues took place since the start of negotiations on 12 April. Agreed new elements include: to introduce a fourth high-level objective for the mandate addressing root causes of migration; to release the optional EUR 3 billion mandate; to create an additional maximum ceiling for the EIB's private sector mandate amounting to EUR 2.3 billion, while introducing a comprehensive guarantee for private sector operations directly linked to refugees and host communities, thus extending the coverage of the EU guarantee to commercial risks. The co-legislators also reached agreement on: greater flexibility between region envelopes to optimise the use of the Guarantee, a gender perspective applied to all financing operations, strengthened human rights monitoring and transparency, stronger provisions on non-cooperative jurisdictions, and an independent external evaluation of the advantages/disadvantages of entrusting asset management of the GFEA to the Commission, the EIB or both. Further information Meeting documents Webstreaming Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP Highlights - EU budget 2018: Plenary debate and vote on outcome of the budgetary conciliation - Committee on Budgets 07-12-2017 02:44 PM CET In the early hours of 18 November, Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on the 2018 Union budget during a conciliation procedure. The preliminary figures are EUR 160.1 billion in commitment appropriations and EUR 144.7 billion in payment appropriations. Parliament secured increases for the Youth Employment Initiative (+EUR 116.7 million), programmes key to boosting growth and jobs, such as Erasmus+ (+EUR 24 million), Horizon 2020 (research, +EUR 110 million) and COSME (support for SMEs, +EUR 15 million), as well as for agencies with security-related tasks (Europol, Eurojust and EASO) and the EU's external action (+EUR 80 million), including the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods and the Western Balkans. At the plenary sittings of 29 and 30 November, Members took a close look at the terms of the agreement. The debate, on Wednesday 29 November (afternoon), was followed by the plenary vote on Thursday 30 November. A majority of Parliament approved the joint text. Further information 2018 budgetary procedure Steps of the procedure Plenary agenda Press release (18 November) Top Story: The EU's budget for 2018 Conciliation document/ Joint text Extracts from the debate, vote and signature on the report Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP Highlights - Plenary takes stance on reflection paper on future of EU finances - Committee on Budgets 07-12-2017 02:44 PM CET Following a plenary debate last July and the vote in the BUDG committee on 10 0ctober on a draft resolution prepared by co-Rapporteurs Jan Olbrycht (EPP) and Isabelle Thomas (S&D), on Tuesday 24 October plenary took a stance on a reflection paper by the European Commission on the future of EU finances. This resolution aims at providing a first response to the issues raised in the reflection paper, such as which scenario to choose as a starting point, the level of resources needed to meet actual needs and political ambitions, possible sources of financing, the kinds of flexibility mechanisms needed to respond to unforeseen circumstances and evolving political priorities, as well as the structure and duration of the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The BUDG committee is currently preparing own-initiative reports on the future MFF and on own resources, in view of the Commission's proposals expected by May 2018. Further information Motion for a resolution Reflection paper on the future of EU finances (Commission document) The next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and its duration: In-depth analysis The next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), its structure and the Own Resources: In-depth analysis The next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the Unity of EU budget The next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and its Flexibility Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP Highlights - BUDG to take position on European Defence Industrial Development Programme - Committee on Budgets 07-12-2017 02:37 PM CET On 22 November, BUDG discussed the proposal for a European Defence Industrial Development Programme, which aims at supporting the competitiveness and innovative capacity of the EU's defence industry. In his draft opinion, the rapporteur, E. Gonzalez Pons (EPP, ES), while supporting the Commission's proposal, considers that the initiative should be fully financed from the unallocated margins. He also proposes that 20% of the Programme's financing should be earmarked for SMEs. BUDG is associated to the lead committee, ITRE, under rule 54 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure, with shared competence over all budgetary aspects of the proposal. The vote in BUDG will take place on 24-25 January 2018. Further information Live webstreaming Meeting documents Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP QUESTIONS? STAY CONNECTED  Contact Us | This email was sent on behalf of the European Parliament · Bât. Altiero Spinelli · 60 rue Wiertz / Wiertzstraat 60 · B-1047 - Bruxelles/Brussels  · Belgium · Phone: +32(0)2 28 42111