Authors Iain Begg | Gabriel Glöckler | Anke Hassel ... - The Europaeum
Authors Iain Begg | Gabriel Glöckler | Anke Hassel ... - The Europaeum
Authors Iain Begg | Gabriel Glöckler | Anke Hassel ... - The Europaeum
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<strong>The</strong> medium-term financial framework<br />
<strong>The</strong> medium-term financial framework provides a stable, usually seven<br />
year, planning horizon for the EU budget. To alter the detail of a financial<br />
framework during its life is a complex procedure, subject to unanimity,<br />
and therefore only usually undertaken in the face of absolute necessity.<br />
This system gives comfort to net contributors because it places an upper<br />
limit on expenditure in the medium-term, it also gives comfort to net<br />
beneficiaries because it guarantees to a large extent expenditures over the<br />
same period.<br />
However the financial framework freezes expenditure in wide policy<br />
chapters at a time when needs are changing rapidly. It does therefore<br />
make sense to think about increasing the flexibility within this system.<br />
One positive change would be to reduce the length of the financial<br />
framework to 5 years and bring it in line with the lifespan of the Commission<br />
and elections in the European Parliament. This does not require a Treaty<br />
change. However increasing the role of the European Parliament, which<br />
would also be desirable, does require a Treaty change.<br />
<strong>The</strong> mid-term budget review and<br />
the outlook for budget reform<br />
<strong>The</strong> negotiation of the medium-term financial perspective of the European<br />
Union is usually one of the most highly contested negotiations that take<br />
place in the Union. Decisions on the annual budget of the Union can also<br />
be contentious.<br />
At the end of the negotiation of the Financial Perspective for the years<br />
2007-2013, it was agreed that there should be a mid-term review of the<br />
financing of the Union, in which both the future financing of the Common<br />
Agricultural Policy and the British budget rebate would be included. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
two subjects have traditionally fired up even the most moderate of the EU<br />
member states.<br />
<strong>The</strong> European Commission published its consultation paper on the midterm<br />
review in September 2007. Since then the public has been invited to<br />
make representations to the Commission on the future of the budget. A<br />
large number of contributions have been received and published on the<br />
web and a major conference was held in November 2008 during which the<br />
results of the consultation were discussed.<br />
However, in spite of this apparent hectic activity, EU budget reform has<br />
dropped completely out of the political debate on the future of the<br />
74<br />
After the crisis: A new socio-economic settlement for the EU