EU budget 2014-2020: Better spending of taxpayer money. The Parliament can make a difference.

The key objective of the European Commission's proposal on the Multi-annual Financial Framework was to get an EU budget that is more policy-driven, fit for the challenges of the 21st century and supporting a green transition in order to assist the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy. In contrast the European Council deal mainly focuses on vested national interests and net contributions, failing to agree on a forward looking budget able to tackle European challenges and consistent with EU environmental targets by 2020. The European Parliament still has opportunities to improve the Council agreement on the MFF and ensure better spending of EU taxpayers' money.