nl flag go to the original language article
This article has been translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The news agency is not responsible for the content of the translated article. The original was published by ANP.

European Parliament cancels cuts to border control Frontex

by AI | 24.Oct 2024 | Europe in brief AI

The European Parliament wants to keep the border control agency Frontex at full strength and invest more in research and education.

The Bulgarian border with a Frontex patrol. PHOTO: Konstantin Kostov, BTA

“`html

STRASBOURG (ANP) – The European Parliament has approved the budget proposal for the European Union for 2025, with which it enters negotiations with the member states. A whole series of amendment proposals were adopted on Wednesday, including the removal of the 90 million euro cut to the European border guard service Frontex that the member states had proposed. The parliament wants to invest a total of 548 million euros extra in research, education, healthcare, and migration management, among other things.

The fund for asylum, migration, and integration has been increased by 25 million by the Parliament. An additional 35 million euros will be allocated for border management. Part of that budget is intended to support Romania and Bulgaria to join Schengen.

The European Parliament also wants to invest an additional 242 million euros in the research and innovation program Horizon Europe. Additionally, 70 million euros more should go to the Erasmus exchange program for students and PhD candidates.

An extra 96 million euros should go to agriculture, 120 million euros to humanitarian aid, and 110 million euros to the eastern and southern neighboring countries of the EU, such as Moldova. For the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, child diseases, and improvement of mental health, the Parliament wants to allocate an extra 50 million euros.

“The money is available,” said MEP Victor Negrescu at a press conference after the vote. He negotiates on behalf of the European Parliament with the EU member states on the 2025 budget. According to him, a lot of money has not been spent in recent years that was allocated in the EU budget. “In times like these, we need to invest more. Without asking the member states to contribute more.” He refers to the need to improve Europe’s competitiveness.

Now the three-week negotiations start between the European Parliament and the EU Finance Ministers to reach an agreement on the size of the budget and the areas to which money goes. The parliament wants the European Union to have a budget of nearly 201 billion euros next year. The member states want to cut more than 1.5 billion euros next year.

(October 23, 2024)

“`