Following the latest round of talks between the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council, EU decision-makers reached an agreement worth €16bn on the EU’s next long-term budget, increasing the envelope decided by heads of state or government at their summit in July. 

ONE’s sources confirmed that this includes an increase of €1bn for the Neighbourhood, Development, and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), where the majority of the EU’s overseas aid budget comes from.

In reaction to the outcome, Emily Wigens, EU Director at anti-poverty group The ONE Campaign, said:

“The European Parliament’s efforts have been instrumental in securing the €1bn increase for the EU’s main development instrument. These much-needed funds come at a critical time with the World Bank recently reporting that 150 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by COVID-19. 

Whilst ultimately these gains still fall short of what is needed to guarantee a fair and global response to the pandemic and its aftershocks. The Parliament’s negotiating team fought hard to repair some of the damage to the EU’s aid budget following the EU leaders’ deal in July – today’s outcome is to their credit. Our best chance of tackling today’s crises will be through unprecedented solidarity and cooperation, this agreement showed the EU budget is moving in the right direction.”  

 

Note to editors:

€15bn out of the €16bn will go to flagship programmes such as Horizon Europe, Just Transition Fund, the Digital Europe Programme, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, rescEU and a new health programme, EU4Health. The additional €1 billion will increase flexibility for future needs and crises according to the European Parliament.