The EU's next long-term budget [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Auf einen Blick 24-01-2018

European Union Member States and institutions are preparing to embark on negotiations on the EU's next long-term budget, or Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), that will cover five or seven years, starting in January 2021. The European Commission is considering strengthening the budget for new priority areas, such as defence, security and migration. At the same time, the new MFF will 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 are not reduced. The Commission is due to make a detailed post-2020 MFF proposal in May. This note offers 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 can be found in a previous edition of 'What Think Tanks are thinking' published in January 2017.