Britain's Exit Deprived the EU of 75 Billion Euros

European Union budget debate for 2021-2027 is taking place in Strasbourg. Due to Brexit, the total amount of funds held by Brussels has significantly decreased. In connection with Brexit, the budget of the European Union from 2021 to 2027 will decrease by a total of 75 billion euros. This was announced by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the meeting of European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, February 12. Environmental component During the budget debate for the next seven years, the head of the European Union executive body called for taking into account the Green Deal European environmental program, adopted at the end of 2019, for which it was planned to allocate 100 billion euros. In addition, von der Leyen emphasized that she would not agree with a budget that would allocate less than 25 percent of all expenditures for climate protection, since in this case it would not be possible to achieve the EU environmental goals. At the same time, the head of the European Commission announced the need for a compromise in the near future. "If the budget is not adopted soon next year we will not be able to finance new tasks," she said. In turn, the chairman of the faction of the European People's Party (EPP) Manfred Weber called for an end to discussions on donor countries of the European Union. Border protection or support to Africa will not return to the EU but is important for all of them, Weber explained. EU climate program and UK exit from the EU In December, the new President of the European Commission introduced the EU climate protection program, for which a total of 100 billion euros will be allocated in the coming years and 1 trillion euros by 2030. The European Green Deal project for necessary efforts will be comparable to the American program of landing a man on the moon in the 1960s, von der Layen said. According to her, the goal of the comprehensive program will be to achieve complete climate neutrality in the EU countries by 2050, that is, economic activity with zero greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, Europe hopes to slow down global warming. Great Britain left the EU on the night of February 1. This move followed a referendum in 2016 and protracted negotiations with Brussels. The British authorities initially planned Brexit on March 29, 2019, but the prepared bill was repeatedly rejected by Parliament. On January 22, the House of Lords voted for it; on January 23, it was signed by Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. On February 1, the 11-month transition period began. By December 31, the UK and the EU must sign a trade agreement.