The Commission has proposed an EU budget of €168.3 billion for 2020 for a more competitive European economy, and for solidarity and security in the EU and beyond.

This is the last budget of the Juncker Commission and the seventh and last one under the current 2014-2020 long-term EU budget.

It is designed to optimise funding for existing programmes as well as new initiatives and to boost the European added value in line with the Juncker Commission’s priorities.

Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources, said the  budget seeks to continue supporting EU’s priorities- jobs, growth, young people, climate change, security and solidarity- and to prepare the transition to the next budgetary cycle.

“I invite the Council and the new Parliament to come to a timely agreement that would provide stability for the EU’s future,” he said.

As per the Commission proposal, the money under the 2020 budget will go to the following priority areas: competitive economy and young people; and strengthening security and solidarity in the EU, climate change and beyond.
21% of the overall proposed budget for 2020 will go to tackle climate change. This aligns with the ambitious target of spending 20% of EU’s current long-term budget on activities that address climate change.

Investing in a competitive economy and young people

More than €83 billion in commitments will boost economic growth, European regions and will support young people. Of them:

  • €13.2 billion for research and innovation across Europe under Horizon 2020 – the biggest and final tranche of the EU research and innovation programme (+6.4% compared to 2019) – including the final pilot phase of the European Innovation Council to support top-class innovators, small companies and scientists with the potential to scale up rapidly in Europe and globally;
  • €2.8 billion for education under Erasmus+;
  • €117 million for the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) to support young people living in regions where youth unemployment is high (bringing the total funding for YEI between 2014 and 2020 to €4.5 billion);
  • €1.2 billion (+75% compared to 2019) for Europe’s own global satellite navigation system Galileo – to enable it to continue expanding its market uptake from the current 700 million users around the world to reach 1.2 billion by the end of 2020.;
  • €255 million for the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) to incentivise European companies to work together to develop defence products and technology. The EDIDP allows defence cooperation at EU level to be tested under this budget period until a fully-fledged European Defence Fund is in place as of 2021.

Strengthening security and solidarity in the EU and beyond

Many of Europe’s challenges know no borders. The EU has repeatedly used all flexibility in the budget to respond to disasters, address migration challenges and strengthen the EU’s external borders. By mobilising its various instruments, the 2020 EU budget will continue to invest in solidarity and security in Europe and beyond:

  • €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;
  • €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. This will help to build up a reserve of response capacities at EU level, for example forest fighting planes and helicopters, as well as emergency medical capacities;
  • €560 million for people in need inside Syria as well as refugees and their host communities in the region. This is the budgetary response to a pledge made at the Brussels III Conference on the future of Syria in 2019 (the EU budget for 2019 already foresees funding for Syria of €2.01 billion);
  • 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.

The proposal is based on the assumption that the UK will participate fully in the implementation and financing of the 2020 EU budget as if it were a Member State.

The Commission published its proposals for the EU’s next long-term EU budget – which runs between 2021 and 2027 – in the spring of 2018.

The 2020 budget and the long-term budget will be negotiated in parallel between the Member States and the newly elected European Parliament.