The Council adopted its position on the 2014 EU draft budget, the first annual budget relating to the period of the new MFF covering the years 2014-2020 on which a political agreement was reached by the Council and the European Parliament at the end of June.
The Council's position thoroughly respects the expenditure ceilings of the new MFF while keeping appropriate margins in order to meet possible unforeseen expenditure needs.
The Council's position amounts to
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€142.23 billion in commitments3 (€141.77 billion if specific instruments outside the multiannual financial framework are excluded; this would leave a margin of €769.25 million);
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€135.00 billion in payments4 (€134.80 billion if specific instruments outside the multiannual financial framework are excluded; this would leave a margin of €1.06 billion).
Compared to the 2013 EU budget as amended by amending budget no 1, commitments decrease by €9.33 billion or 6.15 per cent and payments increase by €1.79 billion or 1.35 per cent.
Compared to the amounts proposed by the Commission, the Council's position provides for a reduction by €240.68 million in commitments and €1.06 billion in payments.
New programmes and actions, such as the youth employment initiative, are exempted from reductions which have been targeted on the basis of past and current budget implementation and realistic absorption capacities.
The Council's position serves as a mandate to the Lithuanian presidency to negotiate next year's EU budget with the European Parliament, which is expected to adopt its amendments to the Council's position in the week starting on 21 October. If the Council's and the Parliament's positions diverge, a three-week conciliation period will start on 24 October (until 13 November included) (see flow-chart in the annex).
Press release
© European Council
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