The EU agrees on the budget for 2025

The budgets include the “financing necessary for reconstruction in countries affected by natural disasters”

Nov. 16. () –

The negotiators of the European Parliament and the Council agreed this morning on the EU budget for the year 2025, focused on reinforcing the bloc’s main priorities in “a difficult geopolitical context.” The agreed accounts provide for a total of 199,438.4 million euros of expenditure that include the “necessary financing for reconstruction in countries affected by natural disasters.

“We have agreed on a balanced budget that gives us the means to deliver on the EU’s priority areas always with the interest of taxpayers in mind,” said the Council’s chief negotiator and Minister of State of Hungary, Péter Banai, according to the EU published in a statement.

Banai has highlighted that the agreed budget “guarantees a prudent stance with sufficient financial margin to respond to unforeseen events.” “It is a realistic approach taking into account the current economic and geopolitical context,” he stressed.

Specifically, the budget leaves 800.5 million euros unallocated below the spending ceiling set within the 2021-2027 plan and which could be allocated to “unforeseen needs.” In addition, it represents an increase of about 10 billion euros compared to the budget approved for 2024. Part of this increase will go to the European Civil Protection Mechanism proposed by the Commission to respond to emergencies and natural disasters.

The European Parliament and the Council now have 14 days to formally approve the budget agreement. The Council is scheduled to do so on November 25, when it must achieve a qualified majority.

This is the fifth annual budget agreed under the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework and is complemented by the NextGenerationEU funds, created to support economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.