Results-focused review of the EU’s multiannual financial framework

SUMMARY OF:

Communication (COM(2016) 603 final) — mid-term review/revision of the EU’s multiannual financial framework 2014-2020

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE COMMUNICATION?

The communication presents the mid-term review of the functioning of the multiannual financial framework (MFF)* for the years 2014-2020.
It also proposes about €13 billion of additional European Union (EU) funding for the 2017-2020 period to finance further investments in jobs and growth on the one hand, and migration and security measures on the other.

KEY POINTS

Mid-term review of the MFF

The mid-term review takes stock of the key achievements at mid-course of the current 7-year financial programming cycle during which the EU budget seeks to:

promote the economic recovery notably with the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) with about €115 billion to boost jobs and growth;
respond to the most important refugee and migration crisis the EU has ever faced with more than €15 billion between 2015 and 2017;
fight against youth unemployment with the Youth Employment Initiative which has benefited over 1.3 million young people;
sustain several policies to address the causes and effects of climate change with investment of about €200 billion in the years up to 2020.

More money for more result-oriented actions

With its Budget Focused on Results initiative, the effectiveness of the EU budget for the 2017-2020 period will be maximised in order to boost jobs and growth and to manage migration and security threats.

In this context, the mid-term review proposes a financial package of about €13 billion of additional EU funding as well as additional capacity for the EU budget to react to unforeseen circumstances.

This financial package includes:

growth measures with €2.4 billion directed to implement programmes such as Horizon 2020 for research and innovation, the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME), Erasmus+ as well as the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) that supports the development of trans-European networks in the fields of transport, energy and digital services. This also includes €50 million for the WiFi4EU initiative, which aims to help public authorities to offer free WiFi hotspots to citizens, and the extension of the EFSI until 2020;
migration, security and external border control, including the setting up of the European Border and Coast Guard, the EU Agency for Asylum (which will replace the European Union Asylum Support Office), and the reform of the Common European Asylum System with an overall amount of €2.5 billion;
investments in regions outside the EU to address the root causes of migration with €1.4 billion for the European Fund for Sustainable Development, under the External Investment Plan which encourages investment in Africa and the EU Neighbourhood to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The overall package also includes additional spending on migration in 2017 (€1.8 billion) and specific cohesion allocations redirected to the above priorities (€4.6 billion).

BACKGROUND

The MFF for the years 2014-2020 was agreed in 2013 in the light of the financial and economic crisis. As a result, the MFF placed a strong emphasis on investing in areas to boost jobs and growth.

The performance of the mid-term review was one of the conditions for the political agreement on the MFF.

See also the EU Budget website on the mid-term review.

* KEY TERMS

Multiannual financial framework (MFF): lays down the maximum annual amounts (‘ceilings’) which the EU may spend in different political fields (‘headings’) over a 7-year period running from 2014 to 2020.

MAIN DOCUMENT

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council: Mid-term review/revision of the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020 – An EU budget focused on results (COM(2016) 603 final, 14.9.2016)

last update 14.11.2016

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