Commission’s draft EU budget for 2018 reflects our priorities

The European Commission today proposed a draft budget that takes into account the EPP Group’s political priorities, adopted by a large majority in plenary in March: jobs and growth, and the security of EU citizens.

“I particularly welcome the decision to incorporate the results of the MFF revision into the EU budget. It will allow us to enhance flexibility and increase investments in research, education, infrastructure and jobs, especially for young people. In this respect, the continuation of the Youth Employment Initiative and the proposed financing of €233 million in 2018 is a strong message for the young people of Europe”, stated Siegfried Mureşan MEP, the general EP Rapporteur for the European Commission’s draft budget.

As regards security, the EPP Group remains fully committed to ensuring an adequate level of resources in the EU budget in order to address the security concerns of citizens.

“We requested additional staff for Agencies in the field of justice and home affairs and the Commission proposed this. Nevertheless, we need some further clarification on the decreases in some migration-related areas”, concluded Mureşan.

In the draft 2018 budget, the Commission proposes €161 billion in commitments and €145 billion in payments. Compared to the previous budget of 2017, this represents an increase of 1.4% and 8.1% respectively.