Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The agenda of the special European summit that will be held Thursday, early February, was announced in Brussels. A European statement said that the summit comes within the framework of a follow-up to the European Council meeting “the summit” on December 14 and 15, 2023. European Union leaders will discuss a review of the European Union’s long-term “multi-year” budget. For the period 2021-2027, including support to Ukraine.
The European statement added that in the face of unprecedented and unexpected challenges, including Russia's aggressive war on Ukraine, the global Covid-19 pandemic and rising interest rates, the EU's long-term budget needs to be strengthened after being under pressure.
In this context, the leaders will discuss the proposed medium-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027, which includes the creation of the Ukraine Facility to provide long-term stability for Ukraine and the Strategic Technologies Platform for Europe (STEP) to make Europe more competitive.
In December, leaders discussed how to finance our most urgent needs and future priorities, including support for Ukraine, migration and the external dimension, interest payments for the next generation EU and special instruments. The Negotiating Fund provides an additional financial envelope of 64.6 billion euros, which should be spent on the following new priorities:
€50 billion for the Ukraine Facility (€17 billion in grants and €33 billion in loans)
€2 billion for immigration and border management
7.6 billion euros for the neighborhood and the world
€1.5 billion for the European Defense Fund under the new STEP instrument
€2 billion for the flexibility instrument
1.5 billion euros for the solidarity reserve and emergency aid
On 10 January 2024, EU ambassadors approved partial mandates on the Ukraine Facility and the STEP European Defense Fund.