A resolution rejecting the EU's budget plan "in its current form" was backed by the leaders of almost all political factions, Adopted by 506 votes to 161 (with 23 abstentions), the resolution puts the Parliament in a strong position to obtain concessions from EU leaders who are about to meet in Brussels for a summit dedicated to growth and jobs.

While the resolution accepts the overall spending ceiling negotiated by the European Council, MEPs are pressing for more flexibility between budget headings and annual planning periods.

“The Parliament wants to be taken as a serious partner,” President Schulz stated, saying the summit deal was just a “draft” that doesn’t reflect MEPs demands. The Council deal regarding specific policy areas (common agricultural policy, regional policy, etc.) have no value in the eyes of MEPs, the resolution says, reminding that these will be subject to separate negotiations in which Parliament and member states are on an equal footing. Indeed, the Parliament's right to veto the EU's budget under the Lisbon Treaty allows it to have full-fledged negotiations with the Council where member states sit.
 

Main points of the resolution are:

• No deficit allowed

The resolution highlights the growing problem of payment shortfalls, which jeopardizes EU programmes. Last year, the Erasmus student exchange programme, the Research Framework Programme and the Social Fund all ran out of money early in the year and had to be topped up later on.

Parliament insists that the issue of unpaid bills from 2012 must be settled before concluding the budget negotiations, as agreed in last year's budget talks. Parliament also wants a political commitment from member states that all bills falling due in 2013 are paid in 2013, so as to avoid "rolling over" a deficit into the new budget period for 2014-2020. The EU cannot legally run a deficit.

• Flexibility, mid-term review, own resources

The resolution gives Parliament negotiators a strong mandate to ensure that the 2014-2020 budget is flexible enough to allow available funds to be used optimally.

Parliament also calls for a mid-term review of budget spending, so as to give the newly-elected Parliament and Commission an opportunity to influence the budgets that they will inherit from today's legislators.

Furthermore, the resolution makes the case for a system of genuine own resources to fund the EU budget and stresses that all EU expenditure should go through the budget.

The ball is now in the camp of the Irish Presidency, which will propose a roadmap for negotiations. Those could start in April and could be concluded by the summer.

If all goes according to plan, the Parliament and Council will have voted some 65 regulations by co-decision in the autumn,  representing the legal base of the next EU budget. If there is no agreement by the start of 2014, the budget ceilings from 2013, adjusted for inflation, will apply.
 

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