The representatives of the European Council and the European Parliament have reached an agreement on the future budget for the European Union for 2014-2020.
This agreement results in a budget of 959,99 billion euro, which means that the overall expenditure ceiling has been reduced by 3.5% comparing with the current multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2007-2013.

The repartition of the budget according to the priorities of EU policies will change, and will more focus on activities contributing to the creation of wealth and jobs.
A particular effort will be made to boost growth and jobs and therefore the competitiveness heading will provided with 125,61 billion euro, which represent an increase of 37% compared to the MFF 2007-2013.

Moreover, new special instrument outside the Multiannual Financial framework will be implemented. This will increase the flexibility of European institution to react In front of unforeseen circumstances:
– Flexibility to tackle youth unemployment: a new youth employment initiative will be implemented. It will be provided with 6 billion euro. And according to the current agreement, 2,143 billion euro will be frontloaded for this initiative in 2014 and 2015, meaning that the budget allocated to this initiative should be completely committed in the first years of the MFF
– Flexibility to strengthen research: 400 million euro will be frontloaded in 2014 and 2015 to contribute to activities in the field of research, SME and of the Erasmus + programme
– Margin for commitments for growth and employment, in particular youth employment: activities in these areas in 2016-2020 could be funded in part by margin left available below the MFF ceiling for commitments in the years 2014-2017
– Aid for the most deprived: in addition to the 2,58 billion euro already agreed for this initiative, Member state will have the possibility to increase their allocation by up to 1 billion euro on a voluntary basis
– Contingency margin: an agreement has been reached to provide 0,03% of the EU gross national income in order to permit to the European Union to face unforeseen circumstances.

The European Council and Parliament have also decided that the MFF should be reviewed in 2016 at the latest to permit to the newly elected Parliament but also to the Commission and the Council to discuss the priorities of the remaining years and possibly to modify the MFF.
Moreover, it was decided that a proposal for the next MFF should be presented by the European Commission before 1 January 2018 in order to align the discussion on the budget with the political cycles of the institutions.

It is important to notice that this agreement remains provisional. It should however be definitively adopted during the vote on the multiannual financial framework.