Budgetutskottet

The Committee on Budgets will travel to Turkey from 23 to 25 May 2022. The main objective of this mission is to learn about the implementation of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey. The Facility is a mechanism to coordinate the mobilisation of resources made available under both the EU budget and additional contributions from Member States integrated into the EU budget as external assigned revenue. The total budget coordinated by the Facility is EUR 6 billion, mobilised in two tranches.

The Committee on Budgets adopted an opinion for the Committee on Constitutional Affairs on the proposal for a regulation on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations.

The Committee on Budgets examined a Commission proposal for the Union budget to contribute a total amount of EUR 400 million to the financing of the first reception and registration costs of people fleeing Ukraine.

The Committee on Budgets examined a proposal to mobilise the EGF for €17.7 million to support 1 580 dismissed workers from Air France and two of its subsidiaries in 16 regions in France. The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) aims to provide support to people losing their jobs as a result of globalisation and of technological and environmental changes.

The Committee on Budgets, in association with the Committee on Development, held a public hearing on the "Implementation and Financing of COVAX: Successes, Challenges and Lessons for the Future". The hearing focused on the current state of play, mechanisms in place and the current and possible future financial needs of the COVAX initiative. It sought to understand how EU financing has supported vaccine research, production and distribution efforts.

On Monday 16 May, 14:50-15:45, BUDG and ECON Members held for the first time an exchange of views with Elena Flores, Chair of the InvestEU Steering Board. The InvestEU Programme provides long-term funding to companies and supports sustainable investment, innovation and job creation in Europe.

The committees on Budgets and Budgetary Control invited the Commission's Director-General for Budget Gert-Jan Koopman to present the recently published proposals to revise the Financial Regulation, namely the law laying down the principles and procedures governing the establishment, implementation and control of the EU budget.

Members from the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs held the 6th Recovery and Resilience Dialogue with Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People and Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for Economy.

Members from the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Budgetary Control exchanged with Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn on the implementation of the conditionality regulation, and in particular on the announced activation of the regulation against Hungary.