EU's Multiannual Financial Framework

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for the Danish coordination of the negotiations on the EU’s multiannual financial frameworks.
A central way of managing the EU-budget is through the expenditure caps, which are typically determined for a period of seven years. The present budgetary frameworks (which are also referred to as the multiannual financial framework) are effective from 2007-2013 and determine the expenditure framework within six broad expenditure headings. Within the multiannual financial framework, the annual budget is adopted after negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament. The basis for the multiannual budgetary frameworks is an inter-institutional agreement between the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament. The introduction of multiannual financial frameworks in 1988 has significantly eased the annual budgetary negotiations and was treaty based in the Lisbon Treaty.

In June 2011, the Commission is expected to submit a proposal for the financial framework after 2013, which will be negotiated during the Danish EU presidency in the first half of 2012.

The Engagement of the Ministry of Finance
The Ministry of Finance coordinates the Danish position on the financial frameworks. The negotiations on the future financial framework beyond 2013 will be one of the biggest cases during the Danish EU Presidency in 2012. The Ministry of Finance will be responsible for the overall coordination of the Presidency work and the negotiations of the Commission’s proposal on the financial framework in a designated working group in Brussels.

The agreement on the budgetary framework for 2007-2013 was reached after more than two years of negotiations as a compromise in the European Council in December 2005 which was followed by negotiations with the European Parliament.

In April 2008, the government handed over its opinion to the Commission's consultation on how the EU budget resources should be distributed in the future. The consultation response outlines the broad principles of the Danish position on the EU's multiannual financial framework.

Further information is available on:

The interinstitutionel agreement about the financial perspectives 2007-2013
The Commissions website on the multiannual financial framework