Publication

Thids paper examines the background to the current EU budget negotiations, as well as the underlying issues and the latest proposals on the table. In doing so the authors highlight the weaknesses and contradictions of the main actors involved, and the consequences that these can have for the Union as a whole, especially in light of the goals set in the Lisbon Agenda. The main issue is the gulf between the responsibilities and ambitions that the member states envisage for the Union, and the actual resources they are prepared to devote for it to be able to deliver. Member states have tended to defend their status as either a "net recipient" or reduce their "net contributions" as much as possible, rather than focus on designing forward-looking policies for the Union, as for example diversification of EU budgetary expenditure, which would be obtained by cutting existing common policies, in particular the CAP, enabling an increased support for growth and employment.