Last week, the European Parliament plenary adopted its position on the EU budget for 2025. MEP’s proposed an overall budget of almost €201 billion, which is €1.24 billion more than the proposal of the European Commission from last June. The budgetary focus will be on research, education, health and climate action. Parliament wants to prioritise programmes that address health challenges, support young people, agriculture and rural areas, help people suffering from natural disasters, boost climate action, manage migration and security needs, and strengthen EU support for neighbouring regions experiencing geopolitical and humanitarian crises. 

MEPs restored €1.52 billion in funding cuts proposed by the Council, and set payment appropriations at €153.5 billion.

Despite repayment costs for the European Recovery Instrument (EURI) being twice as high as initially forecasted for 2025, MEP’s want to avoid reducing funding for essential programmes like Erasmus+ or R&D. Victor Negrescu, general rapporteur for the EU budget 2025, called the vote “a strong signal of support for a citizen-centred EU budget focused on investments in economic development and improving people’s lives. That is why we are asking for an increase of €110 million for actions in the area of health, an additional €70 million for Erasmus, €42 million to protect our citizens against the effects of natural disasters, an additional €96 million for agriculture, €120 million for humanitarian aid, and €110 million for the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood."

The EP's vote will be followed by three weeks of “conciliation” talks with the Council, with the aim of reaching a deal for next year’s budget in preparation of the next ECOFIN Council on 15 November 2024.

About 90% of the EU budget funds activities in EU countries and beyond that are beneficial to citizens, regions, farmers, researchers, students, NGOs, and businesses. Unlike national budgets, the EU budget is primarily aimed at investment, to generate growth and opportunities across the European Union.

The EU serves 27 countries with a total population of 450 million. With these figures in mind, the annual EU budget is actually relatively small – on average €160-180 billion annually in 2021-27. This is comparable to the national budget of Denmark, which serves 5.6 million people, and is about 30% smaller than the budget of Poland, which serves 38 million people.