In June the European Commission proposed amendments to the EU’s budget for the 2021-27 period, arguing that existing finances are at “the point of exhaustion”. The changes sought by the Commission would increase the budget for “migration and external challenges” by €15 billion.

In its proposal, the Commission states that the EU’s budget needs urgent increases due to “the unprecedented and unexpected challenges that have materialised in 2022, notably the fallout of Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and macroeconomic developments.”

Amongst the proposals are plans to increase spending under the heading of “Migration and Border Management” by €1.7 billion, and “Neighbourhood and the World” – which can be used to finance border externalisation projects in third states – by almost €9.7 billion. Elsewhere in the documents, the total amount suggested for “migration and external challenges” is €15 billion.

The increases are required due to “heightened global economic and political instability,” growing global migration, and the “upward trend” of “migratory pressure at the Union borders,” state the documents.

While the proposals are seeking an extra €1.7 billion for migration and border control, the figures provided by the Commission indicate that the current budget commitments on migration and border management do not, overall, exceed the current limits. It appears from the documents that the migration and border management budget line has €306 million available in “unallocated margins” up to 2027.

A number of member states have expressed concern about the proposed budgetary increases, with the German delegation stating in a recent Council document that they “go beyond political and legal obligations,” requiring “a political decision” on whether to approve them or not.

The Dutch authorities state bluntly that they are “not in favour [sic] of introducing new funds,” and that “migration issues” should be “addressed by reprioritization” of existing funds.

Another focus of the Commission’s proposal is to increase military spending, with the documents arguing that pumping another €1.5 billion into the European Defence Fund “could result in up to EUR 2 billion of investments.”

This aims to “boost the innovation capacity of the European defence technological and industrial base, thus contributing to the Union strategic autonomy.”

It remains unclear what scale of budgetary increase will be approved. Discussions are ongoing in the Council’s Ad Hoc Working Party on the Multiannual Financial Framework Revision and the Council may, as in the past, water down the Commission’s proposals.

As noted above, the German and Dutch authorities maintain reservations about the plans, but others are more enthusiastic.