The S&D Group today voted on the Parliament's EU budget for 2018, which calls for more funding to boost growth, enhance cohesion and tackle the many challenges the EU is facing.
Daniele Viotti MEP, S&D negotiator on the 2018 budget, said:
“The European Parliament has backed a strong EU budget for 2018, capable of dealing with the many challenges we face in Europe. We have increased funds to tackle the root causes of migration, as well as support the reception and integration of migrants into European society. We have also reversed cuts to vital programmes such as Horizon 2020, which funds science and research, and the Connecting Europe Facility, which supports cross-border infrastructure. We have reversed all the spending cuts put forward by the Council to these programmes and in fact proposed increased funding for these vital areas. The Council repeatedly says we need to boost jobs and growth in Europe, then attempts to cut exactly the type of programmes that help deliver it.
“We also have pushed hard to increase the budget for tackling youth unemployment. Although unemployment has been falling across the continent, in many countries and regions it is still far too high. This is particularly true for young people, who are significantly more likely not to be in education, work or training than the general population. In this report, we have managed to secure an extra €366 million for the Youth Employment Initiative.
“We have managed to create an EU budget for EU citizens. These proposals can help tackle many of our citizens’ concerns and help curb the rise of populist and anti-European movements. We urge the Council to recognise this in the upcoming negotiations and support our proposals.”
Eider Gardiazabal Rubial MEP, S&D spokesperson for the budget committee, added:
“Over the last three years, we have seen a huge increase in the number of refugees and migrants coming to Europe. To manage this new reality effectively, we need an EU budget capable of responding. It is a clear example of why we need a flexible EU budget, so that it can respond to issues when they arise. We have managed to reverse the cuts proposed by the Council in this area and to increase the proposal of the Commission by an additional €121.5 million.
“We have also managed to secure extra funds for development and to support humanitarian causes around the world. This includes an extra €16.6 million in financial assistance for Palestine and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA), €38.1 million for delivery of humanitarian aid - including €10 million to improve access to education in crisis areas.
“Finally, it is clear that in many areas Turkey is moving away from European standards and values. Human rights, press freedom and the rule of law have continued to deteriorate in the country. We therefore support withholding certain funds designated for Turkey under the pre-accession initiative.”
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