Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
It was announced today, Saturday, in Brussels, that the Council, representing the member states of the unified bloc, on the one hand, and the European Parliament, on the other, reached an agreement on the annual budget of the European Union for 2025. Next year's budget focuses strongly on the main policy priorities of the European Union and addresses the current difficult geopolitical context.
Total commitments are set at €192,768.6 million and total disbursements at €149,615.7 million, excluding the expected allocations for special instruments outside the multiannual financial framework.
An amount of €800 million has been kept available this year under the spending ceilings of the current multiannual financial framework for the period 2021-2027, allowing the European Union to respond to unforeseen needs.
A European statement distributed in Brussels and a copy of which we received from the current rotating presidency of the Union represented by Peter Panay, Hungarian State Secretary and Chief Negotiator of the Council on the EU budget for 2025, said: "We have agreed on a balanced budget that gives us the means to achieve the EU's priority areas, taking into account the interest of taxpayers. Next year's budget ensures a prudent approach while preserving sufficient fiscal space to respond to unforeseen circumstances. "This is a realistic approach that takes into account the current economic and geopolitical context and the need to accommodate new challenges that may arise in 2025. Furthermore, the agreement provides the necessary funding for the reconstruction of countries affected by natural disasters."

EU budget for 2025 (in millions of euros)

1. Single market, innovation and digitalization

21,480,1 Commitments

20,460,6 Payments

2. Cohesion, resilience and values ​​77,980,2 Payments 44,445,2

3. Natural resources Environment

56,731.3 and payments 52,091.5

4. Migration and border management

4,791.1 and payments 3,203.9

5. Security and defence for commitments 2,632.6 and for payments 2,143.2

6. Neighbourhood and the world 16,308.2 for commitments and 14,426.3 for payments

7. European public services administration 12,845.0 for commitments and 12,845.0 for payments

Special instruments 6,669.9 and for payments 5,593.6

Total over €199 billion for commitments and €155 billion for payments

Allocations as a percentage of GNI

1,08% for commitments and 0,84% for payments

Commitments are legally binding promises to spend money on activities carried out over several financial years.
The payments cover expenditures arising from commitments made in the EU budget during the current or previous financial years.

The EU budget for 2025 therefore amounts to €199,438.4 million in gross commitments and €155,209.3 million in gross payments when including the foreseen allocations for special instruments outside the multiannual financial framework.

The European Parliament and the Council now have 14 days to formally approve the agreement reached. The Council is expected to adopt it on 25 November. Adoption of the budget requires a qualified majority within the Council.

In its preliminary draft budget for 2025, formally adopted on 12 July 2024, the Commission set the total commitments at €193,046.9 million and the total payments at €147,090.5 million, excluding the foreseen allocations for special instruments outside the multiannual financial framework.
In its position adopted on 13 September 2024, the Council set total commitments at €191,527 million and total disbursements at €146,214.6 million, excluding the expected allocations for special instruments outside the multiannual financial framework.

In its amendments adopted on 23 October 2024, the European Parliament set total commitments at €194,282.3 million and total disbursements at €147,897.2 million, excluding the expected allocations for special instruments outside the multiannual financial framework.

On 10 October 2024, the Commission adopted an amendment letter to the draft budget reducing the level of commitments by €303 million and increasing the level of disbursements by €2,657 million.

After the European Parliament adopted its amendments to the draft budget, the Council declared that it did not agree with the Parliament’s proposals. As a result, a meeting of the Conciliation Committee was convened. This year, the conciliation procedure will run from 29 October to Monday 18 November.
The Conciliation Committee is composed of representatives of the 27 Member States and 27 Members of the European Parliament, with the Commission acting as an honest broker to reconcile the positions of the two branches of budgetary authority. This is the fifth annual budget under the EU’s long-term budget, the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027. The 2025 budget is complemented by actions to support the recovery from COVID-19 under NextGenerationEU, the EU’s plan for recovery from the pandemic.