European Parliamentary Research Service Blog
Alessandro D’Alfonso
How the EU budget is spent: EU cooperation with Greenland
Having been a part of the European Community since 1973 through Denmark’s membership, Greenland withdrew from the European Community in 1985 after the island secured home rule from Denmark. Since then, Greenland has been associated with the European Union as an Overseas Country and Territory (OCT). Continue reading
How the EU budget is spent: European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)
An investment gap in the European Union (EU) persisting several years after the financial and economic crisis is one of the various challenges confronting the EU’s multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the years 2014 to 2020 since its beginning. Continue reading
Roundtable discussion on migration and borders
The European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) hosted a discussion on ‘Migration and Borders: Roadmap for the future of Europe’, including a keynote address from Claude Moraes (S&D, United Kingdom, Chair of Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE)) on 19 March 2019. Continue reading
Economic and Budgetary Outlook for the European Union 2019
This EPRS study, the third in an annual series, provides an overview of the economic and budgetary situation in the EU and beyond. It summarises the main economic indicators in the Union and euro area, and their two-year trends. Continue reading
Own resources of the European Union: Reforming the EU’s financing system [EU Legislation in Progress]
The EU budget is financed by the system of own resources and cannot run a deficit. The current system provides sufficient revenue to cover EU expenditure, but has often been criticised as opaque and unfair. Continue reading
Economic and Budgetary Outlook for the European Union 2018
In 2017, the EU and euro-area economies continued their moderate growth (slightly over 2 %) in a context of global improvement (3.5 %) underpinned by a strong rebound in world trade, continuing growth in China and a return to growth in countries such as Brazil and Russia. Continue reading
2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF): Mid-term revision [EU Legislation in Progress]
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso (3rd edition), The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) sets the maximum level of resources (‘ceiling’) for each major category of EU spending for the years 2014-2020. Based on the compulsory mid-term review of the MFF, the European Commission proposes to modify the flexibility provisions and special instruments of the MFF Regulation. The … Continue reading
The Brexit negotiations: Issues for the first phase
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso, Eva-Maria Poptcheva, James McEldowney and Laura Tilindyte, Negotiations on the arrangements for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union started on 19 June 2017. The European Commission is negotiating on behalf of the EU, on the basis of the European Council’s guidelines and the subsequent mandate from the Council. The … Continue reading
Smart Borders: EU Entry/Exit System [EU Legislation in Progress]
In anticipation of increased traveller flows and in response to security concerns regarding the control of EU external borders, on 6 April 2016, the Commission presented revised proposals for establishing an Entry/Exit System for recording the border-crossings of all non-EU nationals. Continue reading
Economic and budgetary outlook for the European Union 2017
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso, Angelos Delivorias, Magdalena Sapała and Andrej Stuchlik , This study presents the 2017 economic and budgetary outlook for the European Union, explores the most recent developments in EU budgetary negotiations, and focuses on the investment gap in the EU, as a major economic challenge for the Union. In 2016, the EU … Continue reading
A fiscal capacity for the euro area? Options for reforms to counter asymmetric shocks
The idea to create a ‘fiscal capacity’ for the euro area was launched in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis, with the recognition that weaknesses in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) had worsened the crisis. Although the debate has lost some momentum as euro-area countries have stepped back from the acute phase of the crisis, the EU institutions continue to work on designing a framework to bolster EMU, looking in particular at automatic stabilisers. The European Parliament’s Committees on Budgets and Economic and Monetary Affairs are currently preparing a report on a budgetary capacity for the euro area. Continue reading
Migration and asylum in the EU: animated infographic
Written by Anita Orav, Eva-Maria Poptcheva, Alessandro D’Alfonso and Mitja Brus, Graphics by Eulalia Claros, Christian Dietrich and Giulio Sabbati, In 2015, the unprecedented surge of migrant flows to the EU continued. The number of irregular border crossings detected in 2015 – 1.83 million – was six times higher than in 2014, already a record … Continue reading
Discharge procedure for the EU budget: Political scrutiny of budget implementation
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso, The European Commission is ultimately responsible for the execution of the European Union’s budget. However, this involves a range of actors, including Member States, to which the Commission delegates implementing tasks related to a significant share of the budget. Each year, the discharge procedure ensures ex-post democratic oversight at political level … Continue reading
The UK ‘rebate’ on the EU budget: An explanation of the abatement and other correction mechanisms
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso, The UK ‘abatement’, ‘rebate’ or ‘correction’ is the ad hoc mechanism that is applied to lower the UK’s contribution to the EU budget, by reimbursing 66% of the country’s budgetary imbalance (the difference between payments and receipts). In 2014, the rebate amounted to almost €6.1 billion, reducing the UK’s national contribution by … Continue reading
The politics of the EU budget
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso How do the two arms of European Union (EU) budgetary authority (the European Parliament and the Council) reach compromises in annual and multiannual procedures? What formal and informal mechanisms do the EU institutions have at their disposal to influence budgetary decision-making? And what reform options are feasible in the areas of … Continue reading
How the EU budget is spent
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso The EU budget corresponds to around 1% of the Union’s gross national income (or 2% of total public spending in the EU) and its impact on the economy is debated, with many analysts deeming it relatively small in size in comparison with the wide range of policy areas in which the … Continue reading
How the EU budget is spent: EU expenditure on animal and plant health and a safe food chain
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso The agri-food sector plays a significant role in the EU’s economy, employing close to 50 million people. EU expenditure on ‘food and feed’ aims to contribute to safety along the food chain, mainly by preventing, controlling and eradicating serious pests and diseases, in animals or plants, and strengthening related controls. Key objectives … Continue reading
How the EU budget is spent: AMIF, the EU Fund devoted to asylum and migration issues
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso. In a context of increasing challenges in the policy area of home affairs, the European Parliament has, on many occasions, called for an integrated EU approach to migration, asylum and external borders, endowed with sufficient resources as well as appropriate tools to handle emergency situations. The Treaty on the Functioning of … Continue reading
How the EU budget is spent: LIFE, EU budget for addressing environmental and climate issues
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso LIFE, the EU’s only funding programme entirely devoted to environmental objectives, is meant to act as a catalyst for developments in this policy area. Responsibility for environmental issues is shared between the European Union (EU) and its Member States. At EU level, the European Parliament (EP) and the Council agree on … Continue reading
‘Monti’ Group’s first assessment of EU own resources
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso The ‘own resources’ system, which ensures the financing of EU policies, has advantages such as reliability in providing the necessary resources, but has also attracted a number of criticisms, not least for its complexity and lack of real financial autonomy. The European Parliament (EP), which has little say in the design … Continue reading
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