EU annual budget for 2022 agreed

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, acting on a proposal from the European Commission, reached an informal political agreement on Monday on the EU budget for 2022, under the EU’s second multiannual financial framework 2021-2027. The resolution refers to commitments of 169.5 billion euros and payments of 170.6 billion euros.

Once adopted, the budget will enable the EU to mobilise substantial funds to sustain its response to the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences, to drive a sustainable recovery and to create and maintain jobs. The budget will mobilise new investments in a greener, more digital and resilient Europe, while protecting the most vulnerable, both in its neighbourhood and in the rest of the world.

The agreed budget will direct funds where they can make the biggest difference given the most pressing recovery needs of EU Member States and our partners around the world.

Concrete budgets

• 49.7 billion in commitments to support recovery by boosting investment in economic, social and territorial cohesion.
• 53.1 billion euros to the Common Agricultural Policy and 971.9 million euros to the Maritime and Fisheries Fund to strengthen the resilience of the agri-food and fisheries sectors and create the necessary margin to manage the crisis.
• 12.2 billion to Horizon Europe, to support European research in health, digital technologies, industry, space, climate, energy and mobility; and €613.5 million to the Single Market programme.
• 839.7 million to the EU4Health programme, to boost the EU’s European Health Union and respond broadly to the health needs of European citizens.
• 1.2 billion under the Just Transition Fund to ensure that the transition to climate neutrality serves all, and 755.5 million under the LIFE programme to support the environment and climate action.
• 2.8 billion to the Connecting Europe Facility to create a modernised, high-performance transport infrastructure to facilitate cross-border connections.
• 3.4 billion to Erasmus+, to invest in young people, and €406 million for the cultural and creative sectors through the Creative Europe programme.
• 1.1 billion to the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and EUR 809.3 million to the Integrated Border Management Fund to intensify cooperation on border management.
• 227.1 million to the Internal Security Fund and EUR 945.7 million to the European Defence Fund to support European strategic autonomy and security.
• 15.2 billion to support our neighbours and international development and cooperation.

Full breakdown by budget heading

Alongside the 2022 budget, the EU institutions agreed to adopt proposed amendments to the 2021 budget, presented by the Commission earlier this year in Draft Amending Budgets 5 and 6. Once the approval process is finalised, the Commission will be able to increase humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees in Turkey and contribute to accelerating vaccination worldwide by providing an additional 200 million doses to low-income countries.

In parallel to the annual budget for 2022, EU countries will continue to be supported by the Next Generation EU recovery instrument and its central component, the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.

The Commission has adopted positive assessments of the recovery and resilience plans of 22 Member States, and the Council has endorsed each assessment. To date, the Commission has disbursed €52.3 billion in pre-financing payments to 17 Member States.

Next steps

The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament will formally adopt the annual budget for 2022. The vote in the plenary, which marks the end of the process, is currently scheduled for 24 November 2021.

Long-term budget 2021-2027

The EU long-term budget 2021-2027 and NextGenerationEU, constitute the largest stimulus package ever funded through the EU budget of over €2.0 trillion.

It was agreed following a negotiation process launched with a Commission proposal in May 2018. After the Coronavirus pandemic hit Europe in May 2020, a second proposal was tabled to ensure that the budget could better support the EU's recovery.

In July 2020, after negotiations that lasted four days, EU heads of state or government approved the next long-term budget and NextGenerationEU. On 10 November 2020, the agreement with the European Parliament was concluded.

The final stage of the process took place on 17 December 2020, with the final adoption of the 2021-2027 package by the Council of the European Union.