As budgetary authority, together with the Council, the European Parliament has huge responsibilities towards the European citizens. Ensuring the smooth continuation of the activities in all the different policies is of fundamental importance: we needed to approve the budget for next year. The approved resolution is strong on the 15 programmes that would need an additional budget to fulfil their objectives. In particular, the EP reinforced funding for Parliament’s priorities inter alia in the fields of research, culture, security, migration, fundamental rights and external action. These important signals must find a corresponding response by the Council, as Member States struggle to find an agreement on the budget for the next seven years. With this vote, the EP also confirmed the list of pilot projects that will be funded through next year’s budget and I am happy to see approved a pilot project that I have tabled together with other MEPs about the need to create support services for citizens willing to become active consumers in their energy use. A small step forward close to our territories.