BRUSSELS, 14 SEPTEMBER 2016.  EU Vice-President for Budget Kristalina Georgieva presented today the expected mid-term review on EU Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF).

The Commission stresses that the challenges of migration and security need to be addressed in the longer-term and the EU budget must further develop its capacity to support the management of migration flows as well as the protection and integration of refugees, and to address the root causes of migration.

The MFF mid-term review proposal suggests broadening some budget’s flexibility instruments. In particular, a €1 billion (at 2011 prices) increase of the annual availabilities under the flexibility instrument and a €0,5billion increase to the Emergency Aid Reserve. In addition, it proposes to set up a new European Union Crisis Reserve which would allow the Union to react rapidly to crises and events with serious humanitarian or security implications.

Tamira Gunzburg, Brussels Director of ONE said:

“The Commission has made some positive proposals to free up funding in the EU budget through increased flexibility for special instruments. The EU will be better equipped to deal with unexpected crises without having to delve into existing development programmes.

Meanwhile, in order to effectively respond to today’s refugee crisis, address security concerns and keep up investments in poverty eradication programmes, the EU will need to mobilise additional resources on external spending beyond the MFF ceiling. A first concrete opportunity is to do this in the 2017 budget which is currently under negotiations.

Only the mobilisation of additional resources will allow the EU to achieve these objectives without forcing deadly trade-offs between them, and to ensure that development policies remain focused on poverty eradication.”

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Notes to editors:

Contact, information & interviews – Andrea Ghianda // [email protected] // +32 (0)2 300 89 42 // +32 (0)471 89 64 22

ABOUT ONE: ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organisation of nearly 7 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Not politically partisan, we raise public awareness and press political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency in poverty-fighting programmes. Read more at www.one.org.

European Commission – Press release: EU budget review further focuses budget on priorities, ensures more flexibility and less red tape