EU annual budget cycle

The Parliament and the Council are the budgetary authority of the EU. Therefore, the Parliament and the EU Member States in the Council establish the annual budget jointly. It is based on a proposal by the Commission (see Figure 4), which is in line with the annual spending limits laid down in the MFF. Although all the elements of the budget are interdependent/related/connected, there are different procedures with different roles for the three main actors dealing with the MFF (long-term expenditure ceilings), for the decision on the own resources (by types and ceilings) and for the annual budget. Inevitably, this is a serious challenge for a clear and simple communication related to the EU budget.