The Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached an agreement today on the 2021-2027 EU budget, putting the bloc one step closer to implementing its historic €1.8 trillion budget-and-recovery package.
The deal — which still requires final consent from both the Parliament and Council — opens the way for the seven-year budget to come into effect in January, and sets the stage politically for member states to begin the ratification process required to make the bloc’s new €750 billion recovery fund operational.
EU leaders in July agreed to a €1.074 trillion long-term budget, accompanied by the recovery fund. But members of the European Parliament argued that insufficient budget cash was dedicated to programs in areas such as health and research, and that there should be clear guarantees that the EU plans to create new sources of income for its budget in the coming years.
Tuesday’s agreement would allow for an extra €15 billion to be channeled to budget programs, including the Horizon Europe research program, Erasmus student exchange program and the health program, according to a Council statement. Of the €15 billion, €12.5 billion constitutes fresh funding, primarily from competition fines imposed by the bloc. The rest of the money would come mostly from reshuffled cash.