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EU Adopts 2018 Budget

President Antonio Tajani signs the 2018 budget into law. [European Parliament]
President Antonio Tajani signs the 2018 budget into law. [European Parliament]
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EU Adopts 2018 Budget

President Antonio Tajani signs the 2018 budget into law. [European Parliament]
President Antonio Tajani signs the 2018 budget into law. [European Parliament]

The European Union on Thursday adopted its 2018 budget, amounting to €160.1 billion ($189.7 billion) in commitments - an increase of 0.2 percent compared to 2017.

The EU said total payments amount to €144.7 billion ($171.5 billion), rising 14.1 percent from last year.

"Payments increase significantly because the implementation of the 2014-2020 programs is expected to reach full speed in 2018," the EU said.

Märt Kivine, deputy finance minister of Estonia and chief Council negotiator for the 2018 EU budget, said that the Parliament and the Council shared the same two main priorities for the financial year 2018: to tackle migration and security, and to boost innovation, growth and employment in Europe.

“I am convinced that we have achieved a good and balanced result, allowing the Union to act and to react to the various needs”, Kivine said.

The biggest portion of the budget -- €11.2 billion ($13.4 billion) -- will be allocated to the EU's research and innovation programs; this is an increase of 8.4 percent compared to 2017.

The bloc, meanwhile, said Turkey's pre-accession funds have been cut by €105 million ($124.4 million).

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Exports from Libya's Hariga Oil Port Stop as Crude Supply Dries Up, Say Engineers

A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
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Exports from Libya's Hariga Oil Port Stop as Crude Supply Dries Up, Say Engineers

A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)

The Libyan oil export port of Hariga has stopped operating due to insufficient crude supplies, two engineers at the terminal told Reuters on Saturday, as a standoff between rival political factions shuts most of the country's oilfields.

This week's flare-up in a dispute over control of the central bank threatens a new bout of instability in the North African country, a major oil producer that is split between eastern and western factions.

The eastern-based administration, which controls oilfields that account for almost all the country's production, are demanding western authorities back down over the replacement of the central bank governor - a key position in a state where control over oil revenue is the biggest prize for all factions.

Exports from Hariga stopped following the near-total shutdown of the Sarir oilfield, the port's main supplier, the engineers said.

Sarir normally produces about 209,000 barrels per day (bpd). Libya pumped about 1.18 million bpd in July in total.

Libya's National Oil Corporation NOC, which controls the country's oil resources, said on Friday the recent oilfield closures have caused the loss of approximately 63% of total oil production.