The EU’s next long-term budget

In 2018 European Union Member States and institutions were preparing to embark on negotiations on the EU's next long-term budget, or Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), that would cover five or seven years, starting in January 2021. The European Commission was considering strengthening the budget for new priority areas, such as defence, security and migration.

At the same time, the new MFF would have to bridge the financing gap left by United Kingdom withdrawal from the Union. That could mean that EU funding would have to be increased slightly above the current level of approximately 1% of EU gross national income, if current spending levels on cohesion and agricultural policies were not reduced.

The European Commission was due to make a detailed post-2020 MFF proposal in May 2018.

This note offered links to a selection of recent commentaries, studies and reports, from some of the major international think tanks and research institutes, which discuss the EU's long-term budget and related reforms.

Some older papers on the topic could be found in a previous edition of 'What Think Tanks are thinking' published in January 2017.

Compiler: Marcin Grajewski

• Primary Source

ESO: Find further information in ESO on the Multiannual Financial Framework http://www.europeansources.info/advSearchLink?keyword=mff%20financial%20framework%20&searchOption=all

ESO: Key Source: Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 http://www.europeansources.info/record/multiannual-financial-framework-2014-2020/

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