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READING REFERENCES Council Library
Council of the European Union
                          General Secretariat

READING REFERENCES                                                            2020

Council Library

              The long-term EU budget
          and the Recovery Plan for Europe

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The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on EU societies and
economy. In response to the crisis, the EU has put in place immediate measures to enable
maximum flexibility in the application of budget. On 23 April 2020 the European Council
decided to work towards establishing a recovery fund to respond to the socio-economic
consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. It tasked the Commission with analysing the exact
needs and urgently coming up with a proposal commensurate with the challenge facing
us. On 27 May 2020 the Commission issued a proposal for a long-term EU budget for the
period 2021-2027.

EU leaders will discuss the issue of a recovery fund to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and
a new long-term EU budget on 19 June 2020.

The Council Library has compiled a reading list relating to the MFF including research
papers, articles and EU publications on the financial framework for the next seven years
and on its historical evolution. This list includes recent online resources regarding the new
EU recovery plan.

Please note:

This bibliography is not exhaustive; it provides a selection of resources made by the
Council Library. Most of the titles are hyperlinked to Eureka, the resource discovery
service of the Council Library, where you can find additional materials on the subject.

The contents are the sole responsibility of their authors. Resources linked from this
bibliography do not necessarily represent the positions, policies, or opinions of the Council
of the European Union or the European Council.

Reuse of the covers is prohibited, they belong to the respective copyrightholders.

Additional resources may be added to this list by request - please contact the Council
Library to suggest a title: library@consilium.europa.eu

Click on the titles below to access the resources.

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READING REFERENCES Council Library
Books

                                                      Features and challenges of the EU budget : a
                                                      multidisciplinary analysis
                                                      Luca Zamparini ; Ubaldo Villani-Lubelli
                                                      Cheltenham : Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019
                                                      Available at Legal Library Main Collection (105783)

                                                      "The budget has been among the most pressing topics
                                                      facing Brussels throughout the history of the EU. Features
                                                      and Challenges of the EU Budget proposes a timely
                                                      analysis of the most pertinent issues surrounding the EU
                                                      budget with a multidisciplinary approach that includes
                                                      historical, political, legal and economic interpretations.
                                                      This thought provoking book considers the history of the
                                                      EU budget and the European integration process, offering
                                                      insight into the broader political implications of the budget
                                                      for both Member State governments and for their citizens."

                                                      Les procédures budgétaires de l'Union européenne de
                                                      2015 à 2017 : de la crise à la relance
                                                      Ilkka Saarilahti
                                                      Florence : European Press Academic Publishing, 2018
                                                      Available at Legal Library Main Collection (105563)

                                                      "Cet ouvrage fournit un éclairage complet sur le
                                                      déroulement         des     négociations       budgétaires
                                                      interinstitutionnelles de l'Union européenne en 2014-
                                                      2017.Il détaille les différents sujets auxquels les
                                                      négociateurs ont dû faire face et présente en détail le
                                                      contenu des accords budgétaires conclus pendant cette
                                                      période. Une attention particulière est portée aux
                                                      compromis entre le Parlement européen et le Conseil sur
                                                      les différents éléments de flexibilité du cadre financier
                                                      pluriannuel pour 2014-2020."

Council of the European Union
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The new European budgetary order
                                                         Robin Degron
                                                         Bruxelles: Bruylant, 2018
                                                         Available at Legal Library Main Collection (105396)

                                                         "The Sovereign debt crisis pushed the EU to take a new
                                                         step to the common financial rules. After some years of
                                                         ‘soft budgetary carefreeness’, the European Budgetary
                                                         Treaty boosted the movement of budgetary convergence
                                                         in the EU. The ‘Six Pack’ and the ‘Two Pack’
                                                         consolidated the effectiveness of a new European
                                                         budgetary order founded by the Maastricht Treaty and
                                                         the Stability and Growth Pact. Even if mechanisms
                                                         adopted by the Member States are formally different in
                                                         law, conditions of European budgetary orthodoxy have
                                                         been definitively hardened. This new rigor has a great
                                                         impact on all the public administrations, as defined by
                                                         the European Accounts System and Eurostat."

                                                       The responsive union: national elections and
                                                       European governance
                                                       Christina J. Schneider
                                                       Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2019
                                                       Online access

                                 See chapters :
                                 5. The EU budget: financially trivial, politically
                                 substantial
                                 6. Triumph and agony in the 2007–2013 MFF
                                 negotiations
                                 "This book presents a comprehensive account of how EU
                                 governments signal responsiveness to the interests of
                                 their citizens over European policies. The author develops
                                 and tests a theoretical framework of the intergovernmental
                                 dimension of responsive governance in the European
                                 Union, using evidence amassed over nearly ten years of
                                 multi-method research. The findings show that European
                                 cooperation in the Council of the European Union takes
place in the shadow of national elections. Governments signal responsiveness to their
publics by taking positions that are in the interests of politically relevant voters at the
national level, defending these positions throughout negotiations in the Council.

Council of the European Union
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Le financement de l'Union européenne : moteur d'une
                                                       intégration politique? : contribution à l'étude du
                                                       système budgétaire européen
                                                       Angélique Boissenin
                                                       Issy-les-Moulineaux : LGDJ, 2019
                                                       Available at Legal Library Main Collection (105858)

                                                       "Le financement de l'Union européenne a assurément
                                                       contribué au renforcement de l'intégration européenne
                                                       mais pas nécessairement à celui de l'intégration politique.
                                                       Le système des ressources propres a joué un rôle
                                                       déterminant dans la construction du système budgétaire
                                                       européen. Toutefois, ce dispositif n'a pas évolué
                                                       conformément à son essence, pas plus qu'il n'a été
                                                       adapté aux évolutions de l'Union. La problématique
                                                       actuellement soulevée par le financement de l'Union n'est
                                                       pas uniquement quantitative. Elle est principalement
                                                       qualitative et dépasse le cadre budgétaire européen."

                                                              The new politics of the European Union budget
                                                              Stefan Becker ; Michael W Bauer ; Alfredo de Feo
                                                              Baden-Baden : Nomos, 2017
                                                              Available at Legal Library Main Collection (104655)

                                                              "After over a decade of relative stability, recent years
                                                              have seen new momentum in EU budget politics. The
                                                              Treaty of Lisbon introduced the broadest reform of
                                                              budgetary procedures since the 1970s, while the
                                                              financial and economic crisis has intensified scepticism
                                                              towards European integration among citizens and
                                                              decision-makers. As a result, the EU budget has
                                                              become more controversial, more flexible and more
                                                              fragmented. This volume brings together contributions
                                                              from scholars and practitioners that address empirical
                                                              and theoretical questions surrounding the new politics
                                                              of the EU budget."

Council of the European Union
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Briefings and studies

                                         Council of the European Union:
Multiannual financial framework (background information)
Brussels: Council of the European Union, 2020
Online access

The European Council and the Council of the EU have a central role in the process of
establishing the EU's long-term budget, which usually covers a period of five to seven
years. Negotiations kick off a few years before the period covered by the new budget is
due to start. The formal process begins with the presentation of the so-called multiannual
financial framework (MFF) package by the European Commission.

A recovery plan for Europe (background information)
Brussels: Council of the European Union, 2020
Online access

A joint effort to recover from COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has tested our societies
and economies in unprecedented ways. The public health emergency rapidly turned into
the most drastic economic crisis in the EU's history. From the early days of the pandemic,
as the EU took immediate measures to tackle the crisis, it was clear that the recovery
would require a joint effort at EU level.

                    European Commission and European Parliament :
The EU budget powering the recovery plan for Europe
European Commission, Directorate-General for Budget
Luxembourg: Publications Office, May 2020, 5 pages
Online access

"Building on the considerable progress that has already been made in the European
Parliament and the Council, the Commission now proposes to deploy a reinforced EU
budget to help repair the immediate economic and social damage brought by the
coronavirus pandemic, kickstart the recovery and prepare for a better future for the next
generation."

Financing the recovery plan for Europe
European Commission; Directorate-General for Budget
Luxembourg: Publications Office, May 2020, 3 pages
Online access

"To finance the necessary investments, the Commission will issue bonds on the financial
markets on behalf of the EU. To make borrowing possible, the Commission will amend the
Own Resources Decision and increase the headroom – the difference between the Own
Resources ceiling of the long-term budget (the maximum amount of funds that the Union
can request from Member States to finance its expenditure) and the actual spending. With
the headroom as a guarantee, the Commission will raise funds on the markets and
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channel them via Next Generation EU to programmes destined to repair the economic and
social damage and prepare for a better future."

Outlook for the European Council video-conference of 18-19 June 2020
Ralf Drachenberg ; European Parliament, Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research
Services
Brussels : European Parliament, June 2020, 4 pages
Online access

"The European Council meeting on 19 June, to be held by video-conference, will be
almost exclusively dedicated to the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the
proposed new EU recovery fund, dubbed ‘Next Generation EU’. The two European
Commission proposals are now to be considered as one package for the purpose of
negotiation, since the recovery fund is in effect embedded within the revamped EU long-
term budget."

2021-2027 multiannual financial framework and new own resources analysis of the
Commission's proposal
Matthew Parry ; Magdalena Sapała ; European Parliament ; Directorate-General for
Parliamentary Research Services
Brussels : European Parliament, July 2018, 36 pages
Online access

"This in-depth analysis is a follow-up to the EPRS briefing 'Post-2020 MFF and own
resources – Ahead of the Commission's proposal', published in April 2018, shortly before
the Commission published its proposals for a Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for
the 2021-2027 period and a new system of own resources. It provides an assessment of
some of the proposals' most important elements, as well as an overview of how they
respond to a series of issues raised by the European Parliament."

The next MFF and own resources
Alix Delasnerie ; European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the
Union
Brussels : European Parliament, February 2019, 2 pages
Online access

"The special legislative procedure for adopting the Multiannual Financial Framework
(MFF), set out in Article 312 TFEU, requires both consent of the European Parliament (EP
-by a majority of its component members), and unanimity in the Council, while the one for
reforming Own resources (OR) requires under Article 311 TFEU consultation of the EP, a
unanimous Council decision and ratification by the Member States (MSs)."

How flexible is the EU budget?: flexibility instruments and mechanisms in
the multiannual financial framework (MFF) : in-depth analysis
Sapała, Magdalena; European Parliament, Directorate-General for Parliamentary
Research Services
Brussels: European Parliament, January 2020, 36 pages
Online access

Council of the European Union
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"The 1988 introduction of multiannual financial frameworks (MFF) in the European Union
(EU) budgetary system has improved financial predictability and facilitated the
development of multiannual spending programmes, but has had to be balanced by
measures that provided some flexibility and ability to react to unexpected situations. Over
the years, these flexibility instruments and mechanisms have
developed and proved to be useful. Occasions to use them were frequent, as the crises
and challenges faced by the EU required actions that could not be financed under the tight
expenditure ceilings of the agreed MFFs."

Assessment of the Just Transition Fund proposal
European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union
Brussels: European Parliament, March 2020, 12 pages
Online access

"Soon after unveiling the overall roadmap for its flagship European Green Deal initiative,
the European Commission published its first concrete proposal on 14 January 2020, on
how to establish a Just Transition Mechanism (European Commission, 2020a, 2020b and
2020c). The objective of this initiative is to provide support to territories facing serious
socio-economic challenges arising from the transition towards climate-neutrality. To reach
the €100 billion of Just Transition Mechanism financing (for the period 2021-2027)
promised by European Commission President Von der Leyen, the initiative relies on three
main pillars (European Commission, 2020a): 1. The creation of a Just Transition Fund
(JTF): the Commission wants to add €7.5 billion of ‘fresh money’ to the total amount
proposed in 2018 for the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)."

                                            Articles and research papers

The European Commission’s Recovery Plan : key points for a full picture
Fondation Robert Schuman, 27 May 2020, 4 pages.
Online access

"A massive three-directional plan – To revive the European economy and tackle the
consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Commission is proposing a €750 billion
plan, integrated into the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) divided into three pillars:
support for recovery in the Member States; support for businesses, particularly strategic
sectors; and strengthening the EU's health and crisis management capacities."

The Commission’s long-term budget proposal and the EU recovery plan: dissecting
the jigsaw puzzle
Analysis by Dolores Utrilla, In EU Law live website, June 2020
Online access

"A few days ago, the European Commission presented its plan for post-pandemic
economic recovery in the EU. This includes a revised proposal for the 2021-2027
Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), as well as proposals to review other budget-
related pieces of EU legislation. Overall, this represents an effort by the Commission to
place a powerful and modernised EU budget at the heart of the EU’s recovery plan, and
involves an unprecedented level of complexity in the use of sectoral mechanisms and

Council of the European Union
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programmes closely interconnected with each other. That complexity warrants further
explanation to understand the plan’s main features, in order to obtain a comprehensive
picture of the different pieces forming the proposed new MFF, as well as its envisaged role
in the post-pandemic economic recovery process."

How to spend it right : a more democratic governance for the EU Recovery and
Resilience Facility
Policy brief by Lucas Guttenberg and Dr. Thu Nguyen; Bertelsmann Stiftung and the
Jacques Delors Centre, June 2020, 6 pages.
Online access

"The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) will be the core of the EU’s new Recovery
Instrument to fight the economic fallout of the pandemic. Under the RRF, 310 billion euros
in additional EU spending will be allocated by the European Commission to member states
based on individual Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs). In this Policy Brief, Lucas
Guttenberg and Thu Nguyen argue that the proposed governance to decide on the
assessment of RRPs lacks democratic elements as parliaments are largely sidelined"

Investigating in Europe's global role: the must-have guide for the negotiations of the
Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027
Andrew Sherriff
ECDPM book, 2019
Online access

"In 2019, a new European Parliament, new European Commission and new President of
the European Council will have their hands full with the negotiations of the 2021-2027
budget. They will need to agree on the amount and the focus of billions of euros and on
how to distribute these along different political priorities. There is still all to play for and
these negotiations may well run late into 2020. This guide is a consolidated independent
reference point for policymakers, analysts and advocates – inside and outside of the
negotiating process. It provides non-partisan insight on the key challenges, issues at stake
and dynamics driving change."

Tax-based own resources to finance the EU Budget
Schratzenstaller, Margit ; Krenek, Alexander
Intereconomics, May 2019, Vol.54 (3), p.171-177
Online access

"In the current negotiations about the European Union’s next medium-term Multiannual
Financial Framework (MFF) for the period 2021 to 2027, the system of own resources
financing EU expenditures plays a relatively important role. Currently, the EU budget
primarily rests on contributions from Member States (VAT- and GNI-based own
resources), whereas ‘true’ own resources have continuously lost importance. In 2017,
VAT-based own resources accounted for 12.2% of overall EU revenues and GNI-based
own resources for 56.6%, while traditional own resources contributed the rather small
share of 14.7%."

Pre-summit Briefing - 20 February the Multiannual Financial Framework
Peter Ludlow
European Council Studies, No. 1, March, 2020, p. 1-6
Online access
Council of the European Union
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"The European Council’s meetings about the MFF every seven years are a curious ritual.
One dreads them before they start. One wonders what all the fuss was about when they
are finished. From Thursday to Friday and possibly Saturday of this week, the heads of
state or government from 27 countries will devote a great deal of energy to settling their
differences over a seven year budget which the Presidency proposes should be fixed at
1.074% of the EU’s GNI and which however much they may huff and may puff they are
highly unlikely to change by more than .025% either way. And if they do not agree this
time, they will have another go, as they did in 2005 and again in 2012/13."

A new budget for the EU negotiations on the multiannual financial framework 2021–
2027
Peter Becker
SWP Research Paper, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2019
Online access

"This research paper looks at the issues the MFF negotiations are facing, such as Brexit,
increased protection of the EU’s external borders, and the stabilisation of the Eurozone.
Many member states hope that Germany, as the strongest economy and largest net
contributor, will provide additional resources to facilitate a successful conclusion of the
negotiations on a new MMF. This paper argues that the German government needs clear
and firm ideas about the fields in which it wants to modernise EU policies and to further
Europeanise and communitise them."

Budget européen 2021-2027 doter l’Europe des moyens de nos ambitions
Pénélope Debreu
Terra Nova, 2018
Online access

"Tous les sept ans, l’Union européenne (UE) décide de sa programmation budgétaire
pluriannuelle pour financer ses politiques et institutions. Et tous les sept ans, cet exercice
donne lieu à d'âpres négociations entre États membres. Reflet des compétences de l'UE,
la discussion budgétaire est souvent victime de mécanismes institutionnels – règle de
l'unanimité et structure inadaptée des ressources alimentant le budget – qui poussent les
États membres à regarder uniquement combien l'Europe leur coûte et combien elle leur
rapporte. Peut-on changer de regard et faire du budget l'occasion d'un débat sur les
priorités de l'Union ? C'est ce que Terra Nova analyse dans ce rapport pour donner au
budget européen les moyens de ses ambitions."

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Historical evolution of the EU budget

                                                                    BOOKS

                                                        Budgetary politics : the finances of the European
                                                        Communities
                                                        Helen Wallace ; Gordon Roy
                                                        London : University Association for Contemporary
                                                        European Studies, 1980
                                                        Available at Council Library Main Collection (032324)

                                                        "A comprehensive study of the background to problems
                                                        associated with the EU budget and their implications."

                                                       The Community budget for an Economic and
                                                       Monetary Union
                                                       Paul-Bernd Spahn
                                                       London : Macmillan, 1993
                                                       Available at Council Library Main Collection (055222)

                                                       "Maastricht will induce changes to the EC budget the
                                                       various dimensions of which are explored in this volume.
                                                       Based on the theory of fiscal federalism the author
                                                       discusses important aspects of multilayer government
                                                       finance for existing federations - Australia, Germany,
                                                       Switzerland and the USA. He sketches the effects of an
                                                       Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) onto the
                                                       Community budget, and concludes with a systematic
                                                       treatment of revenue instruments for its future financing."

Council of the European Union
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Paying for Europe
                                                         Iain Begg ; Nige Grimawade,
                                                         Sheffield : Sheffield Academic Press, 1998
                                                         Available at Council Library Main Collection (066792)

                                                         "As the European Union moves towards full economic
                                                         and monetary union, the system used to finance the
                                                         Union will have to change. The current arrangements
                                                         were designed for a small community at a relatively low
                                                         stage of integration. This book considers options for
                                                         reforming the Union Budget to make it more appropriate
                                                         for the challenges which will face the Union in the next
                                                         century. It proposes an agenda for gradual reform which
                                                         takes into account both the political and economic
                                                         constraints on the Union."

                                                        The finances of the European Union
                                                        Brigid Laffan
                                                        London : Macmillan, 1997
                                                        Available at Council Library Main Collection (063395)

                                                        "This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the
                                                        growing financial power of the European Union in a lively
                                                        and accessible form. It examines how the budget is used
                                                        to enhance the internal cohesion of the Union and its
                                                        growing external commitments. Considerable attention is
                                                        paid to lesser known aspects of EU finances such as the
                                                        work of the EIB and the Court of Auditors. The
                                                        management of EU finances is a central focus of this
                                                        book. The book concludes with an assessment of the
                                                        future prospects of the budget."

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