Towards the next long-term budget framework

At the meeting of the General Affairs Council on 5 December 2011, ministers continued work on the next multiannual financial framework (MFF). They had agreed earlier that the next MFF would cover the period from 2014 to 2020.

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The debate was based on a comprehensive note by the Polish presidency, aimed  at taking stock of the debate so far. Since the MFF encompasses a wide array of policy areas, topics as diverse as cohesion, the Connecting Europe Facility, the Common Agricultural Policy and security and citizenship were discussed.

In addition, the way in which different kinds of mechanism and instrument are going to work has to be determined, for instance as regards the different types of conditionality. Overall, several aspects of the proposal submitted by the Commission need further clarification and examination; this applies for example to the new VAT own-resource or the use of innovative financial instruments.

This was the last debate about the MFF during the Polish presidency. Formal negotiations are expected to begin in early 2012.

More information:
Press release (pdf)
Webcast public deliberation
Webcast Press Conference
EU's budget planning on the Council's table
First Council discussion on the EU's budget planning
MFF: Questions and answers (Commission)
Financial Framework 2014 - 2020 (on Europa server)
Next long-term budget framework: the debate goes on