THEEuropean Parliament approved by a large majority the budget of the European Union for the period 2014-2020, deeming that all the conditions set "have been largely respected". The total bill for the next seven years will be €960 billion in financial commitments e 908 billion in payments (2011 prices).
Strasbourg gave the green light to the text with 537 votes in favour, 126 against and 19 abstentions. The accompanying inter-institutional agreement, on the other hand, was approved with 557 votes in favour, 118 against and 11 abstentions. The major political groups supported the agreement, while the Greens and the radical left had already announced their negative vote.
This concludes a negotiation that lasted many months. Last March the European Parliament rejected it the initial proposal of the heads of state and government arrived on February 8th, then calling into question an initial agreement reached last June between the heads of the three institutions (the European Parliament, the European Commission and the EU Council).
The final agreement, however, does not present major changes in the figures, which for the first time in the history of the Union foresee a decline in real terms of the multiannual budget (-6%). In any case, several requests from the Strasbourg Assembly were accepted, in particular as regards "flexibility" (i.e. the possibility of changing priorities and moving resources between the different expenditure items and between the different annual budgets) and the commitment to discuss a reform of the EU financing system that gives more importance to new "own resources".
