Investing in the future: a new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for a competitive, sustainable and inclusive Europe

The EU budget will remain one of the most hotly debated EU issues for years to come.

Every seven years, the EU institutions decide on the guidelines for  EU budget expenditure, the multiannual financial framework (MFF).

Since the EU’s competences expanded after the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty in 2007, the Commission and Parliament are demanding a budget increase.

However, the Member States are reluctant to grant the EU more funds because of the economic crisis.

The Greens believe that freezing or decreasing the future EU budget is an unreasonable choice if the EU is to achieve the policy objectives defined in the EU 2020 strategy, the document designed as a successor to the Lisbon Strategy.

These objectives include investing in research, infrastructure, nature conservation and other domains benefiting EU citizens.

An increase of at least 5% is the minimum required to meet EU 2020 strategy objectives and implement the new competencies transferred by to the Union by the Lisbon Treaty.

The Greens mustered majority support for an increase of at least 5% compared to the 2013 level.

We made Parliament demand that energy efficiency and the promotion of renewable energies be made priorities when taking decisions on energy infrastructure.

We also succeeded in incorporating a specific reference to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) as a possible new own resource for the EU budget.

The Greens failed to bring about the cancelling of funding planned for the ITER fusion reactor, which we believe to be unjustifiably expensive and ineffective.

Our attempt to disentangle justice policy from home affairs policy, so that each can balance the other also proved unsuccessful.

The Greens failed to bring about the cancelling of funding planned for the ITER fusion reactor, which we believe to be unjustifiably expensive and ineffective.

Our attempt to disentangle justice policy from home affairs policy, so that each can balance the other also proved unsuccessful.