European Commission wants 21 pct of EU’s 2020 budget to go towards climate change policies

The European Commission has proposed a budget of EUR 168.3 billion for the European Union in 2020, the last budget under the larger 2014-2020 fiscal period, which will go towards priorities like competitive economy and young people; and strengthening security and solidarity in the EU, climate change and beyond.

21 percent of the overall proposed budget for 2020 will be directed towards tackling climate change through various initiatives. The draft budget must be accepted by EU member states. If they approve it, it will ensure that the bloc reaches a 19.7 percent average spend on climate change policies over the 2014-2020 budget, according to a statement by Budget Commissioner Gunther Oettinger.

The budget, which is 1.3 percent higher than the 2019 one, includes the UK’s contribution as a member state, and would be recalculated if the country left the EU as scheduled by October 31. This would reduce the total figure by EUR 12 billion.

Out of the EUR 168.3 billion in commitments, EUR 83 billion will be allocated to boosting economic growth and supporting young people, including:

EUR 13.2 billion will be given to research and innovation under the programme Horizon 2020, a 6.4 percent increase on 2019;
EUR 2.8 billion for the Erasmus student exchange programme;
EUR 117 million for the Youth Employment Initiative;
EUR 1.2 billion (+75% compared to 2019) for Europe’s own global satellite navigation system Galileo;
EUR 255 million for the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) to incentivise European companies to work together to develop defence products and technology.

In order to strengthen security and solidarity, the Commission has made the following proposals for 2020:

EUR 420.6 million (+34.6% compared to 2019) for the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) following the agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council in March 2019 to set up a standing corps of 10 000 border guards by 2027;
EUR 156.2 million for the new rescEU programme (an upgrade of the existing Civil Protection Mechanism) to better respond to earthquakes, wildfires and other disasters;
EUR 560 million for people in need inside Syria as well as refugees and their host communities in the region;
Continued support for the development of the Entry-Exit System, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, the upgraded Schengen Information System and the European Fund for Sustainable Development, with the overall objective of making EU information systems more interoperable to keep EU citizens safe.

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