Debate: Guidelines for the  Budget - Section III
Date: WEDNESDAY, 13 MARCH 2024
Speaker: Johannes Hahn
Language: EN

The 2025 budget will fully implement the recently adopted revision of the multiannual framework. So let me again stress how important the first ever revision of the MFF ceiling was. It provides a stable framework for support to Ukraine and provides reinforcement for the priorities identified, as well as a solution to the financing of the costs of the NGO borrowing. Thanks to the Ukraine facility, we will continue providing a response to the constantly changing circumstances by supporting the suffering Ukrainian people while also preparing the country’s reconstruction in preparation of the EU accession. Overall, an additional EUR 21 billion was agreed to finance our common priorities. To mitigate the impact of the revision of the MFF on national budgets, it was agreed that the increases will be partly compensated by redeployments and reprioritisations within the Union Budget. We have already presented the first step of the implementation of this revision: the proposal for the draft amending budget No 1 for 2024, adopted on the same day the MFF revision entered into force. However, we will only be able to present the full impact of the MFF revision with the draft budget accompanied by a detailed financial programming for 2026-2027. There you will see how we propose to operationalise the MFF revision by programme, budget, line and year. Looking ahead, next year’s budget comes at a very challenging time for the Union. While the MFF revision has secured substantial additional funding for most of the Union’s priorities and also increased the availabilities for special instruments, the room for manoeuvre to respond to unforeseen events is still very limited. High inflation and persistent uncertainty and risks mean that we all must remain vigilant and cautious. At the same time, we must ensure adequate resources for existing priorities to continue work on long-term projects, notably to strengthen the Union’s strategic competitiveness and enabling the green and digital transitions. The Member States should swiftly make use of the available funding, both under NGEU and under the MFF, to deliver on the ground. The Commission will focus the draft budget 2025 on the most effective and efficient use of our limited resources. Therefore, all institutions should very carefully assess their needs for 2025 and respect the rules, especially for non-salary expenditures, for which increases should be kept under 2% – and of course to respect the stable staffing principles. I would say reassessment and reallocation of resources are key words in that context. I have noted that both the European Parliament and the Council in the guidelines stressed the need to ensure an adequate level of payment appropriations. I can assure you that the Commission monitors the needs on a permanent basis, and that an adequate level of payments will be proposed in the draft budget, taking into account the stage of the MFF cycle. 2025 should be a year when we finally reach cruising speed on all our programmes. Let me now turn to our next steps. In the first trilogue on 9 April, we will discuss the calendar for the budgetary procedure for the financial year 2025. The Commission aims to adopt the Commission’s statement of estimates on 12 June and to submit the full draft budget, of course in all language versions, on 8 July. Honourable Members, we have succeeded over the past years to agree on many groundbreaking files that have changed the Union’s budgetary and financial landscape, and therefore I trust that with our continued cooperation, dialogue and willingness finally to compromise, we will reach a timely agreement on next year’s budget.