An agreement has been found on the EU multiannual budget. A few hours before the start of the EU summit, the president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and the number one of the European Parliament Martin Schultz, together with the Irish premier Edna Kenny, current president of the EU Council, announced that they had reached an agreement on the Community multiannual budget plan (MFF) for the period 2014-2020.
During the joint press conference, Barroso wanted to underline that reaching an agreement was made possible by the fact that “everyone made further concessions”. For "the EU, its citizens and the European economy, this is excellent news".
For the first three years of the period considered, the agreement provides a "total flexibility" as regards the appropriations and commitments, which can be moved from one budget chapter to another, and from one year to another. In the following three years, however, stricter ceilings will have to be respected. The agreement will now be submitted for formal approval by the European Parliament and the EU council.
