Highlights

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The Council and the European Parliament reached an agreement on the budget for 2012 at their meeting in the Conciliation Committee on 18 November. The agreement limits the increase of payments to 1.86% compared to the 2011 budget.

The two institutions agreed to curb the total amount of payments for the 2012 budget to 129.088 billion euros. This corresponds to 0.98% of the EU's Gross National Income (GNI) and represents an increase of 1.86% compared to the updated EU budget 2011. 

The agreed payments increase remains below the latest Commission inflation forecast of 2% for the EU in 2012, in real terms corresponding to a reduction of the EU budget. The EU thus rallies to the important efforts made by member states to consolidate their national public finances.

To cope with unforeseen situations, the agreement secures an important margin (12.4 billion euros) below the payments ceiling of the multiannual financial framework (MFF). The MFF fixes maximum amounts for each broad category of budget expenditure for several years, currently 2007-2013.

At the same time, the budget allows targeted expenditure to support measures in favour of growth and employment in order to prevent the EU from slipping further into crisis.

Concerning commitments - the pledges to spend money for activities extending over several years - the Council and the European Parliament agreed on an overall amount of 147.232 billion euros, leaving a margin of 1.2 billion euros below the MFF ceiling.

The Council and the European Parliament have 14 days to formally approve the agreement which is expected to take place in the Council on 30 November and in the Parliament on 1 December.

More information:
Press release (pdf, with more details)
EU budget explained
Conciliation on the EU budget for 2012
Press conference webcast