21 February 2017

Council sets its priorities for the 2018 EU budget

The Council considers that the EU budget should be prudent while providing sufficient resources in order to strengthen smart and inclusive growth and jobs, and to effectively respond to current and forthcoming challenges, including the measures to tackle the migration and security crises.

Key elements of the budget for 2018

The Council reiterates the need for a realistic budget respecting the principles of sound financial management and annuality. The level of both commitment and payment appropriations should be kept under strict control and be based on real needs. The level of payment appropriations should be adequate and reflect the payment profiles of all programmes and with a clear focus on the expected needs for the current programming period.

The Council emphasises that the budget for 2018 and corrective budgetary tools shall strictly respect the relevant ceilings in accordance with the multiannual financial framework (MFF) Regulation for the period 2014-20201. Moreover, the Council reiterates the need to leave sufficient margins under the ceilings in order to be able to deal with unforeseen events.

The Council welcomes the phasing out of the backlog of unpaid bills from the previous programming period. It calls on the Commission to continue monitoring the implementation of the 2014-2020 programmes in order to ensure an orderly progression of payment appropriations consistent with the authorised commitment appropriations, thereby pre-empting future accumulation of outstanding unpaid bills.

The Council expects the Commission to make every effort to implement the budget within the allocations agreed in the annual budget, including the recourse to redeployments when appropriate. Corrective budgetary tools, such as amending budgets, should be kept to the strict minimum and in line with the Financial Regulation . The Council encourages the Commission to continue to rationalise the submission of draft amending budgets thereby contributing to increase the predictability within the budgetary cycle. If corrective measures prove to be necessary, the Council reaffirms its commitment to take a position on draft amending budgets as soon as possible.

As in the previous years, the Council calls on the Commission to deliver high-quality forecasts concerning both revenue and expenditure in its draft budget and during the whole budgetary process, together with timely, precise and transparent information on the underlying assumptions and budgetary figures3 . Reliable and accurate forecasts on all sources of revenue and on past and expected implementation are crucial in order to avoid either under- or over-budgeting, as well as unjustified and excessive carry-overs. It also allows the European Parliament and the Council to assess any possible requests for additional appropriations or redeployment of existing resources.

An accurate draft budget is essential to allow Member States to anticipate the level of their contributions to the Union's budget with a high degree of precision. In this context, the Council calls upon all actors, and notably the Commission, to undertake appropriate measures in order to avoid unexpected calls for additional contributions from the Member States, especially when the impact on national budgets could be high.

The Council recalls the principle of unity of the budget and calls on the Commission to cater for the necessary financial means in order to implement the Union's policies within the EU budget. The Council believes that full transparency with respect to assigned revenues is crucial for the sound financial management of Union funds. It calls on all institutions, agencies and other bodies to continue providing all the relevant information promptly and on a regular basis.

The Council recalls that all fines, penalties and accrued interest imposed by the Commission shall be transparently recorded as budgetary revenue in line with the provisions of the Financial Regulation.

The Council will continue to oversee the level of outstanding commitments (RAL)4 . It calls on the Commission to continue monitoring the evolution of the RAL by heading and by programme on a regular basis and to settle or decommit them in a timely manner and in line with the relevant rules. In preparing the draft budget, the Commission should take into account the close relationship between commitment and payment levels, the volume of outstanding commitments, the need to respect the MFF ceilings, the absorption capacity and past implementation rates. [...]

Full priorities

© European Council