VERA – Forward Visions on the European Research Area

VERA is funded by the European Union's FP7 programme for research,
technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 290705

A Budget for Europe 2020 (Part I)

Code: A03

Primary project information

Lead: European Commission
Additional project partners: European Parliament, the Member States and the Commission
Type of activity: Policy proposal for the future budget of the European Union. Annual EU budgets shall comply with the multiannual financial framework laid down in a unanimously adopted Council Regulation with a consent of the European Parliament.
Date conducted: N/A
Date of Publication: 29.06.2011
Duration: In the months to come before the end of 2011, the approach outlined in this Communication will be set out in detail in the legislative proposals for the expenditure programmes and instruments in the individual policy areas. The Commission will present in 2016 an assessment of the implementation of the financial framework accompanied, where necessary, by relevant proposals. The Commission proposes that the headings used under the 2007-2013 framework are reshaped to reflect the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy.
Summary: In the design of the next multiannual financial framework the Commission has implemented the principles it outlined in the 2010 budget review: Focus on delivering key policy priorities, focus on EU added value, focus on impacts and results, delivering mutual benefits across the European Union. The main spending area described in Part I are: Horizon 2020, solidarity and investment for sustainable growth and employment, connecting Europe, a resource-efficient Common Agriculture Policy, investing in human capital and migration.
Financed by: Innovative budget: A budget for Europe that responds to today's challenges and creates opportunities for tomorrow.
Budget: N/A
Research area/market/industry/sector: Multiannual financial framework 2014-2020 (in commitments and 2011 prices): TOTAL 1.025.000, in % of GNI 1,05%
Main report (full title): COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS - A Budget for Europe 2020 - Part I: Policy fiches - COM (2011) 500 final

GRAND CHALLENGES

Economic Challenges: economic cohesion, unemployment, increased competitiveness
Economic Challenges Shortlist: economic cohesion; unemployment; increasing competition
Geopolitical Challenges: territorial cohesion
Geopolitical Challenges Shortlist: territorial cohesion
Societal Challenges: social cohesion, persistently high rates of poverty, shortfalls in skill levels, under-performance in active labour market policy and education systems, social exclusion of marginalised groups and low labour mobility [9], increasing tertiary education and reducing early-school leaving [18]
Societal Challenges Shortlist: social cohesion; counteract persistent high rates of poverty; improve performance in active labour market policy and education systems; counteract social exclusion of marginalised groups and low labour mobility; increas of tertiary education and reduction of early-school leaving
Technical Challenges: physical and information technology infrastructures [15]
Technical Challenges Shortlist: improve physical and information technology infrastructures
Mobility Challenges: developing the skills and mobility of human capital [19]
Mobility Challenges Shortlist: development of skills and mobility of human capital
Cross-cutting Challenges: solidarity with the poorest Member States and regions, migration
Cross-cutting Challenges Shortlist: migration; solidarity with poorest Member States and regions
Other Challenges: safe and healthy food, economies now more interdependent than ever before, increase agricultural productivity, education, complete the trans-European energy networks [15], increase the effectiveness of EU spending, effective use of the financial resources, ensure the effectiveness of cohesion expenditure, convergence of payments [17], simplification of the use of EU funding [22], institutional capacity building
Other Challenges Shortlist: safe and healthy food; incrase agricultural productiviy; complete the transeuropean energy networks

Summary of relevant aspects

Aspects of ERA Governance: The European budgets has to avoid duplication of expenditure by Member States and should bring s added value through the synergy of action that the EC can decide at European level that cannot be implemented without this European perspective.
Other Aspects of Governance: The EC will ensure coherence between the overall economic policy of the EU and the EU budget, in particular to avoid situations where the effectiveness of EU funding is undermined by unsound macro-fiscal policies.
Surprising Issues: Leveraging investment: Experience in working most notably with the European Investment Bank (EIB) group, national and international public financial institutions has been positive and will be taken forward in the next MFF [9].
Background information: The EU budget is not like national budgets. It is a budget based on a pan-European logic, which focuses on where EU can exploit synergies by pooling money and which funds actions that would be more expensive to fund separately at national level. -> Focus on: delivering key policy priorities, EU added value, impacts and results and delivering mutual benefits across the European Union [8]. Part I gives an overview about context, framework, principles underpinning, the major new elements, structure and instruments.

Scenarios

Actions/solutions implied: General: increase the amounts allocated to education, training, research and innovation, growth enhancing investment in infrastructure / Solidarirty: cohesion spending / Agriculture: Capping the level of direct payments [17] - by limiting the basic layer of direct income support that large agricultural holdings may receive, while taking account of the economies of scale of larger structures and the direct employment these structures generate. / Investing in human capital: Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP), Erasmus Mundus and Youth programmes [17] / Climate action and environment objectives: need to be reflected in instruments to ensure that they contribute to building a low-carbon, resource efficient and climate resilient economy that will enhance Europe's competitiveness, create more and greener jobs, strengthen energy security and bring health benefits [22, 23].
Who benefits from the actions taken?: The financial/ economic and societal system in Europe.

Meta information

Time horizon: 2014-2020
Methods: not specified
Target Group: Member States
Objectives: The EC aims to give value for money for Europe's citizens. A large part of the budget will be aimed at getting people into work and the economy growing, tied in with the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. In the months to come before the end of 2011, the approach outlined in this Communication will be set out in detail in the legislative proposals for the expenditure programmes and instruments in the individual policy areas.
The Commission will present in 2016 an assessment of the implementation of the financial framework accompanied, where necessary, by relevant proposals. The Commission proposes that the headings used under the 2007-2013 framework are reshaped to reflect the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy.
Countries covered: EU
Geographic scope:

Entry Details

Rapporteur: Claudia Steindl
Rapporteur's organization: AIT
Entry Date: May 2012