EU Council proposes 2022 NDICI budget reduction

The Council of the European Union has proposed a cut of €500 million ($590 million) to the 2022 budget for the EU’s primary development tool, the Neighborhood, Development, and International Cooperation Instrument. The proposal, announced earlier this month, would drop next year’s funding for NDICI to €16.2 billion. The council, made up of government ministers from each of the member states, is the main decision-making body for the union, along with the Parliament. The council specifically proposed a cut of €100,000 to NDICI’s provisioning fund and a €400,000 reduction to the budget for the emerging challenges and priorities cushion, a fund available to the European Commission to respond to unexpected events. The cuts are not definite, though, as the EU Parliament still has to sign off on the budget. If disagreements arise, the two sides will have to enter into a 21-day conciliation period starting in October. Why this matters: While the council proposed cuts in each of the budget categories, the reductions in development funding were among the most dramatic, raising some concerns at a time when the United Kingdom, the world’s third-largest donor, has moved to slash its official development assistance. Even with the council’s proposed reductions for 2022 funding, the NDICI would still see a significant jump from its 2021 budget of €12.1 billion. Also known as Global Europe, NDICI has commitments of €79.5 billion from 2021 to 2027 to focus on fighting poverty and achieving sustainable development.