156th CoR Plenary Session (5-6 July 2023)

The current multiannual financial framework (MFF) is under extreme strain owing to the multiple crises the EU is facing, notably the war in Ukraine and the effects it has triggered. With funds and flexibility measures already extensively used and further funding challenges still ahead, the European Parliament's Committee on Budgets, in an own-initiative report, calls for an urgent and ambitious revision of the MFF to increase the EU budget and make it more flexible. This should enable the EU to confront upcoming challenges and ensure greater transparency and democratic accountability. The report is due to be debated and voted upon during the December plenary session.

Offering an overview of the economic and budgetary situation in the European Union and beyond, and summarising the main economic indicators in the EU and euro area and their two-year trends, this study is the seventh in an annual series of 'Outlooks' produced by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS). In seven chapters, the authors of the publication explain and analyse the annual EU budget and give an overview of its headings for 2023, all within the wider budgetary context of the EU's post-2020 multiannual financial framework and the Next Generation EU recovery instrument. This year's special 'economic focus' puts the spotlight on the EU's economic governance framework and its forthcoming revision, looking first at the current framework and then at the European Commission's proposal for its revision, and in particular, at how this framework could support greater investment levels across the EU.

The current EU long-term budget (MFF) and the instrument NextGenerationEU support the recovery plan for Europe. This website includes information on the new EU budget structure, funding programmes, allocations per Member State, and data on spending and revenue.