Amending budget 2/2019: Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+

PURPOSE: adoption of amending budget No 2 of the European Union for the 2019 financial year.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: definitive adoption (EU, Euratom) 2019/1809 of amending budget No 2 of the European Union for the financial year 2019.

CONTENT: Parliament noted that amending budget No 2 of the European Union for the 2019 financial year had been definitively adopted.

Amending budget No 2/2019 aims to provide the Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ programmes with an additional EUR 100 million in commitment appropriations and to give effect to the agreement reached between Parliament and the Council in the negotiations on the 2019 budget.

The objective of the amending budget is:

• to allocate an additional EUR 80 million to strengthen Horizon 2020, including (i) an additional EUR 34.6 million to combat climate change, in particular batteries, green vehicles and green aviation (Item 08 020 304 - Achieving a resource-efficient, environmentally friendly, safe and sustainable European transport system);  (ii) an additional amount of EUR 45.4 million to increase resources for the ‘Breakthrough zero-emissions energy generation for full decarbonisation’ and ‘Energy and climate change related technologies’ topics;
• to allocate an additional EUR 20 million to consolidate the Erasmus+ budget in order to strengthen the main mobility activities of the programme, in particular in the field of higher education and vocational education and training, as well as for centres of vocational excellence and to strengthen European universities in order to promote excellence, innovation and inclusion in higher education in Europe (Item 15 020 101 - Promoting excellence and cooperation in education and training in Europe and its relevance to the labour market).