Written by Sidonia Mazur and Tim Peters (updated on 26 March 2024).
Following the successful revision of the EU’s 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF), the annual 2024 budget will be increased by €5.83 billion in commitment appropriations and by €4.14 billion in payment appropriations. The MFF headings changed are Heading 5 (Security and Defence) by €376 million and Heading 6 (Neighbourhood and the World) by €501 million. Moreover, a new special instrument, the Ukraine Reserve, is mobilised with €4.8 billion of commitment appropriations and €3.8 billion of payment appropriations.
The amended 2024 budget will total €195 billion in commitments, leaving a margin of €360.1 million beneath the MFF ceilings for 2024. While payments will total €146.7 billion, leaving a margin of almost €31 billion.
Already in November 2023 conciliation, Parliament obtained reinforcements for its main political priority programmes of over €660 million compared to the Commission’s draft budget.
Particularly noteworthy are the increases for humanitarian aid (€250 million); the EU’s southern and eastern neighbourhood under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI – Global Europe) (€150 million); the Horizon Europe research programme (€85 million, including €25 million for health research); Erasmus+ (€60 million in particular for students from disadvantaged backgrounds); the Connecting Europe Facility (€30 million); support for young farmers (€20 million); and the LIFE programme (€20 million).
Other programmes that Parliament considers a priority have also been reinforced. These include the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM); military mobility; the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund; the Border Management and Visa Instrument; the Rights and Values programme; the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO); and the Creative Europe programme.
With the MFF revision and in particular with the DAB1/2024 Parliament’s priorities of support to Ukraine, to European defence, to the Western Balkans will be considerably strengthened in the 2024 EU budget.
Background
On 7 June 2023, the European Commission adopted the annual EU draft budget for 2024 under the title of ‘Enabling Europe to address its priorities’, with an overall volume of €189.3 billion in commitment appropriations (CA) and €143 billion in payment appropriations (PA). Moreover, on 20 June 2023, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a revision of the multiannual financial framework (MFF), aimed at addressing the ongoing challenges, particularly Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and higher than anticipated inflation and interest rates. The European Parliament is one of the two arms of the budgetary authority of the European Union, the Council being the other. These two institutions, assisted by the European Commission, decide on the budget in the annual EU budgetary procedure, within the limits of the long-term EU budget – the MFF). The Council adopted its position on the 2024 EU draft budget on 8 September 2023. The Council proposed to cut commitment appropriations by €771.9 million across the MFF headings, and to cut payment appropriations by €514.6 million across the MFF headings.
On 18 October 2023, the European Parliament adopted amendments to the Council’s position. Parliament stressed that Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and the COVID‑19 pandemic earlier, had had substantial economic and social consequences, pushing up inflation, generating energy insecurity and energy poverty and resulting in a cost of living crisis. It underlined that the new geopolitical and economic context, coupled with the worsening climate and biodiversity crisis and the resulting unprecedented extreme weather events and natural disasters, necessitate additional EU funding. Parliament’s reading of the 2024 EU budget aligned with Parliament’s interim report on the mid-term revision of the 2021‑2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF) in which it broadly endorsed the Commission proposal with an additional €10 billion top-up for 2024 to 2027. This included: €2 billion to tackle recent external challenges, especially linked to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and growing migration issues; €3 billion towards the new ‘Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform’ (STEP); and €5 billion to enhance the EU’s flexibility to respond to unforeseen crises.
In that regard, Parliament integrated the proposed Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform proposal (STEP) in its 2024 position and strengthened the funding for humanitarian aid, migration policy and for the EU’s southern and eastern neighbourhood policy. Parliament has been consistent in insisting that the European Union recovery instrument (EURI) repayment costs should be placed outside the MFF ceilings, providing a structural solution for EURI to be in place by 1 January 2024. Parliament welcomed the proposal to establish the Ukraine Facility.
Parliament’s 10 May 2023 resolution on the impact of rising borrowing costs for the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) on the 2024 EU budget, had earlier called for an urgent revision of the 2021‑2027 MFF and for proposals for a second basket of new own resources.
Initially the EU Heads of State or Government failed to agree on a revision of the MFF. But at the Special European Council meeting on 1 February 2024, EU leaders reached an agreement on the MFF revision. This opened the way for the final negotiations with Parliament, which gave its consent to the amended MFF Regulation on 27 February, which entered into force retroactively as of 1 January 2024.
Next steps
The annual 2024 EU budget entered into force on 1 January 2024.
The agreed revision of the MFF has a significant impact on the 2024 EU budget. The Commission had to propose a draft amending budget to the 2024 budget, adjusting it to a revised MFF. The Parliament’s Committee on Budgets prepared its draft report welcoming the DAB1/2024 and the plenary vote is scheduled for the April II session.
Further reading
For more on the MFF 2021-2017 revision see: First-ever revision of the EU’s long-term budget: Agreement between Parliament and Council
For more on the adopted 2024 EU budget and the outcome of the Conciliation see: Adoption of the European Union’s 2024 budget
For more on the Ukraine Facility see: Establishing the Ukraine Facility: Financing Ukraine’s recovery and its path to EU accession
For more on the debate on the EU financing for Ukraine ahead of the 1 February European Council see: The future of EU financing for Ukraine: Options ahead of the 1 February European Council meeting.For more on Parliament’s reading of the 2024 EU budget see: Parliament’s reading of the 2024 EU budget
For more on Parliament’s role in the EU annual budgetary procedure see: Annual EU budgetary procedure: An introduction to the steps in the EP
For more on the mid-term revision of the MFF see: Revision of the EU’s long-term budget for 2021 to 2027: Securing sufficient resources for the EU
For more on the reform of EU own resources see: System of own resources of the European Union
For more on the impact on the 2024 EU budget of increasing borrowing costs for the European Union Recovery Instrument see: Impact on the 2024 EU budget of increasing borrowing costs for the European Union Recovery Instrument.
