2014 EU budget agreed

According to Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski, after over 16 hours of negotiations, the European Parliament and the European Council have reached an agreement on the 2014 EU Budget on 11 November.

MEP Anne Jensen (ALDE, DK), who is steering the 2014 EU budget through Parliament, described next year’s budget as “an austerity budget” given that it is almost 6% down compared with 2013. However, she expressed her satisfaction because the Parliament managed “to secure more funds for growth policies for research, education and innovation and for humanitarian aid in the Middle East.” Parliament’s Budgets Committee Chair Alain Lamassoure (EPP, FR) said. “Parliament has taken its responsibility by accepting a lower budget. But we managed to get the priorities right and prevent the EU from starting 2014, the first year under the new Multi-annual Financial Framework, in the red.”

On the other hand, Lithuanian Deputy Minister for finance Algimantas Rimkūnas, president of the ECOFIN (Budget) Council said: “At the time when many member states still face financial constraints, the agreed EU budget does not put more burden on their budgets and at the same time ensures that money is spent on the most important priorities such as youth employment and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises.”

The Commission's original proposal for the 2014 EU budget amounted to €142.6 billion in commitments and €136.1bn in payments. The Council's position was €142.2 billion in commitments and €135bn in payments. Moreover, the European Parliament asked for €143.1bn in commitments and €136.4bn in payments. Finally, the 2014 EU budget will stand at €142.6bn in commitments and €135.5bn in payments.

The Council and the Parliament should formally approve the agreement on the 2014 EU Budget within 14 days.