Negotiations on the EU’s Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) take place within the General Affairs Council of the European Union. Ultimately, the final decisions are taken by the European Council of Heads of State and Government and must also receive the consent of the European Parliament. There are many points of friction, including the overall size of the MFF, its allocation across headings, and the question of own resources and how to finance the budget. Traditionally, there is a specific focus on the pre-allocated amounts as these are a significant determinant of the net balance between receipts and contributions for individual Member States – often referred to as the focus on juste retour in the MFF negotiations.
In the Commission’s proposal for the next MFF, the pre-allocated funds have all been merged into a single European Fund for economic, social and territorial cohesion, agriculture and rural, fisheries and maritime, prosperity and security.… Read the rest