EU budget structure

Although we now use the term multiannual financial framework when talking about the programming periods from 1988 onwards, in the past they were called in different ways (see Figure 7, which presents a broadly defined correspondence of headings over the years to illustrate the message delivered by their labels rather than their financial value). For instance, the 2007-2013 programming period was called ‘financial perspective’. Each of these terms – ‘package’, ‘agenda’, ‘perspective’ and ‘framework’ – has its own connotations and delivers a different message about the purpose and function of the EU budget. Without delving into deeper semantic analysis, it could be noted that the terms ‘agenda’ and ‘perspective’ carry future-oriented connotations and the term ‘framework’ has rather restrictive connotations.