The European Parliament today backed a report outlining its priorities for the 2018 EU budget, which made clear the Parliament would fight to ensure that Europe has the means necessary to tackle the challenges facing Europe. The S&D Group is pushing for the budget to focus on boosting economic growth and creating good-quality jobs, as well as tackling migration issues.
S&D MEP Daniele Viotti, who is responsible for the S&D Group’s position for the 2018 budget, said:
“The EU needs a well-funded and progressive budget to be able to meet its commitments and new challenges. Unemployment and youth unemployment is still far too high in many member states. The EU’s budget for 2018 must prioritise growth and help boost Europe’s growth and competiveness. We are calling for more funding to tackle youth employment to ensure that no young European is left behind.
“The refugee and migration issue may no longer be the main news story in Europe but we cannot simply forget about it. We need an EU budget capable of managing migration in a fair and humane way.”
Eider Gardiazábal Rubial MEP, S&D spokesperson for the Parliament's budget committee, said:
“National governments are constantly demanding that the EU take on more responsibilities. However, they do not show the same willingness to give them the means to do this. We need to see instruments such as the External Investment Plan and EU Trust Funds have the resources they need to address major challenges we face.
“As we have seen in the last few years, we have to have a budget that is flexible and able to adjust to unexpected challenges when they appear.”
The European Parliament's report will now feed into the draft budget of the European Commission, which will be presented at the end of May 2017.
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