EU Budget 2020 breakthrough: more money for the climate, digitalisation and young people

The European Parliament and representatives of the EU Member States agreed late this evening on the EU's budget for 2020. “We reinforced the budget lines for the climate by half a billion Euros with this proposal. With more money for our priorities - an overall increase of €850 million for the climate, digitalisation and young people - the budget for 2020 is a success for the EPP Group”, said Monika Hohlmeier MEP, the European Parliament’s negotiator for the 2020 EU Budget.

“On the final day of negotiations with the EU Member States, we successfully pushed Europe's ambitions to be a frontrunner for reaching the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and put the focus where real European added value is created. By supporting programmes that bring together excellent research and investments for green technologies and environmentally-friendly innovations, we create new jobs in Europe and boost the competitiveness of the EU”, explained the German MEP.

“The EPP Group further managed to negotiate additional funding for digitalisation, a topic EU citizens in all EU countries will benefit from  with competitive jobs, better health and better services. Moreover, the EPP Group succeeded in giving more support to young people by increasing the budget for Erasmus+ and the DiscoverEU programmes. We also agreed with the Member States that Europe will provide more funding for renewable energy access to developing countries to help them fight climate change”, concluded Hohlmeier.

At the very end of the three-week conciliation process, this breakthrough deal significantly increases the overall level of commitments to €168 738,1 million and the level of payments at €153 563,2 million for next year’s EU budget.