Second College meeting of the Juncker Commission

The Commission kicked off the preparation of the 2015 Work Programme, proposed to change the rules for the national contributions to the EU budget and increased support to Ukraine.

President Juncker and Vice-President Georgieva © EU

The Juncker Commission is committed to restoring citizens' confidence by demonstrating that the EU can deliver for them on the big challenges facing European economies and societies. That starts with setting the right priorities for the 2015 Commission Work Programme.

The Commission Work Programme will translate the ten points of the Political Guidelines , the Juncker Commission's political contract with the European Parliament, and the European Council's Strategic Agenda for the Union in Times of Change, into concrete deliverables.

Following the meeting of the College, Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans i said: "People all around the EU are telling us they want change. They want Europe to focus more where it can help solve the big problems: jobs, growth and fairness in our societies This Commission is committed to a fresh start, with better priority in what we do and a better way of doing it. Our first work programme will concentrate on a limited set of concrete initiatives which can make a positive difference for citizens".

The European Commission has also proposed a change to the rules on EU budget contributions from Member States, after the current system had led to an automatic demand for large additional payments from some countries. The proposed changes to the rules would provide for an extended deadline for payment of 1st September of the next year, interest free.

Finally the European Commission has disbursed €260 million to Ukraine on behalf of the EU, as part of the EU Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) for the country. This loan disbursement adds to the €600 million extended earlier this year under the two ongoing EU MFA programmes.

Following’s today’s disbursement, €750 million remain available under the two current programmes for Ukraine. At the same time, the Commission is increasing its humanitarian assistance and recovery aid to meet the immediate needs of vulnerable and conflict-affected populations in Ukraine.