At the Budget Council on 18 November, the Council and the European Parliament reached an agreement on the main elements of the budget for 2010.

At the conciliation meeting held in parallel with the Budget Council, the Council and the European Parliament agreed on the financing for the remaining € 2.4 billion of the European Economic Recovery Plan. Agreement was also reached on the financing of extra support measures in the dairy sector, measures for the reconstruction of Palestine, and financing of the decommissioning of the Kozloduy nuclear plant. An agreement was also achieved on the overall level of payment appropriations of € 122.9 billion in the 2010 budget.
 

A response to the economic crisis
“Today we have agreed on a budget that constitutes a forceful response to the economic crisis and that will stimulate growth, speed up the recovery and increase the competitiveness of the European economy in the long term”, said State Secretary Hans Lindblad for the Swedish Presidency. At the same time, it is a budget that upholds the principles of sound financial management and budgetary discipline through a carefully controlled increase of payments, in view of the budgetary constraints in Member States.

According to the agreement, the financing of the Recovery Plan will be secured under the ceilings within the financial framework by means of redeployment within and between headings, an increased use of underspent money in 2009, mobilisation of the flexibility instrument and the use of margins in 2010.
 

More targeted use of Structural Funds
A number of declarations were jointly adopted by the Council and the European Parliament at the conciliation. They concern, for example, the simplification and more targeted use of Structural Funds in the context of the economic crisis and the building policy of EU institutions.

The budgetary procedure will be concluded with the adoption of the second reading by the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the 17 December, at which time the budget is also finally adopted.