![The long-term EU budget [What Think Tanks are thinking]](https://i0.wp.com/epthinktank.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/eprs_brie_tt_614541_eu-budget_final.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
Written by Marcin Grajewski,
European Union leaders agreed at their informal meeting on 23 February that the EU should spend more after 2020 on curbing illegal migration, on defence and security, and on the Erasmus+ student-exchange programme. The summit marked a preparatory stage in negotiations on the EU’s next long-term budget, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which will span a period of five or seven years, starting in January 2021.
There was no agreement on how to plug the hole in the budget resulting from the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU in 2019. Some net-paying countries argued that EU spending should remain at the current level of approximately 1 % of EU gross national income, despite new priorities. That could mean cuts in funding available for cohesion and agricultural policies. Another dispute concerned the possibility of linking the receipt of EU funds to respect of EU fundamental values. The Commission is due to make a detailed post-2020 MFF proposal in May 2018.
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. It updates a previous edition published in January 2018.
The EU’s seven-year budget itch
Bruegel, March 2018
Squaring the MFF circle: How match funding can deliver the EU’s new priorities
European Policy Centre, February 2018
Expanding the reach of the EU budget via financial instruments
Centre for European Policy Studies, February 2018
EU budget, Common Agricultural Policy and Regional Policy: En route to reform?
Bruegel, February 2018
Financial Instruments: Defining the rationale for triggering their use
Centre for European Policy Studies, February 2018
Reinforcing the EU budget with a fossil-fuel contribution
Notre Europe, February 2018
EU budget: Expectations vs reality
Bruegel, January 2018
Der nächste Mehrjährige Finanzrahmen
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, January 2018
Earmarked revenues: How the European Union can learn from US budgeting experience
Peterson Institute for International Economics, January 2018
Squaring the circle? EU budget negotiations after Brexit: Considering CEE perspective
Bertelsmann Stiftung, Institute of Public Affairs, January 2018
Let Europe’s citizens decide on the EU budget
Friends of Europe, December 2017
Prospects for a euro-area budget: An analytical outline
Martens Centre for European Studies, December 2017
EU budget: What’s the cost of Europe?
Jacques Delors Institute Berlin, November 2017
European financial outlook 2021-2027: Which budget for which Europe?
Fondation Robert Schuman, November 2017
Policy conditionality: A new instrument in the EU budget post-2020?
Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, November 2017
The next Multiannual Financial Framework and the unity of the budget
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, November 2017
Climate risk and the EU budget: Investing in resilience
E3G, November 2017
Can the EU structural funds reconcile growth, solidarity and stability objectives?
European Policy Centre, October 2017
Strategically financing an effective role for the EU in the world: First reflections on the next EU budget
European Centre for Development Policy Management, September 2017
Climate mainstreaming in the EU budget: Preparing for the next MFF
Institute for European Environmental Policy, October 2017
The EU budget after 2020
Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, September 2017
The future of the EU budget: Perspectives for the funding of growth-oriented policies post-2020
Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, September 2017
El futuro de las finanzas de la UE: el largo camino hacia una reforma del Marco Financiero Plurianual de la UE más allá de 2020
Elcano Royal Institute, July 2017
Transparency and oversight of the Council’s budget: Council executive powers
Centre for European Policy Studies, July 2017
The future of the European budget: What does the Commission’s white paper mean for EU finances?
Notre Europe, June 2017
Key challenges and opportunities for cities and regions and MFF post 2020
Centre for European Policy Studies, June 2017
Eurozone or EU budget? Confronting a complex political question
Bruegel, June 2017
The Common Agricultural Policy and the next EU budget
Bertelsmann Stiftung, June 2017
The right moment to reform the EU budget
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, March 2017
How to make the most of the EU’s financial potential?
Egmont, March 2017
EU budget post-Brexit: Confronting reality, exploring viable solutions
European Policy Centre, March 2017
European Added Value narrows EU budgetary reform discussions
Clingendael, March 2017
The Instruments providing Macro-Financial Support to EU Member States
Centre for European Policy Studies, March 2017
The €60 billion Brexit bill: How to disentangle Britain from the EU budget
Centre for European Reform, February 2017
Returning meaning to the Common Agricultural Policy
Fondation Robert Schuman, February 2017
Brexit and the EU budget: Threat or opportunity?
Bertelsmann Stiftung, Jacques Delors Institute Berlin, January 2017
Read this briefing on ‘The long-term EU budget‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.
