A deal that secures growth and removes the cuts originally proposed

The European Parliament voted on Wednesday, marking the adoption of the agreement negotiated by PNL MEP Siegfried Mureșan on the European Union Budget for 2024. In a decisive result of 519 votes "for", 79 "against" and 30 abstentions, the final form of the budget eliminated budget cuts of around €700 million originally proposed by the Council of the European Union, news.ro  reports.

This budget provides an additional €807 million in key sectors and programs such as research, the Erasmus+ study program, support for young farmers and the Eastern and Southern Neighborhood. Siegfried Mureșan, the European Parliament's chief negotiator on the EU 2024 budget, stressed the importance of reaching a timely agreement, ensuring that the budget law enters into force early next year and providing predictability for beneficiaries of EU funds.

The 2024 EU budget of over €189 billion not only maintains funding for traditional EU priorities such as Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy, but also adds increases in allocations in sectors considered crucial by the European Parliament, including research, Erasmus+ scholarships, support for young farmers and addressing developments in neighboring areas, with significant increases in the Southern and Eastern Neighborhood, including Moldova.

Siegfried Mureșan also stressed the importance of supporting humanitarian aid in the context of the war in Ukraine and the conflicts in the Middle East. With this vote, the EU Budget 2024 will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force on 1 January 2024.