Statement of estimates of the European Commission for the financial year 2025 : preparation of the 2024 draft budget

In February 2024, the European Parliament gave consent to and the Council agreed at unanimity on the first ever mid-term revision of the expenditure ceilings in the multiannual financial framework (MFF), following the Commission's proposal of June 2023. The agreement reached on the mid-term revision of the MFF reflects the importance of equipping the EU budget with the necessary means to continue delivering on the priorities for Europe and for our partners, which was underscored by key sectoral proposals. In particular, the revision restores the Union's financial capacity to address a series of exceptional challenges; first and foremost Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine, the continued migratory pressures and their root causes, responding to the crisis in the Middle East and reinforcing our capacity to respond to natural disasters and the global competition on key critical technologies and materials, as well as strengthening our defence capabilities. In this context, the co-legislators reached agreement on the creation of the Ukraine Facility and the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP). In April 2024, this was followed by the approval of the new Pact for Asylum and Migration and the creation of the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans. Building on the amending budget 1/2024, which integrated the budgetary impact of the MFF revision for 2024, the draft budget for 2025 incorporates the corresponding impact for the financial year 2025 and provides funding to the Union's shared priorities - as well as reductions on a series of programmes and actions, as per the revision of the MFF.