Publication

This paper examines the principles of EU budget decision-making. It states that the complicated panoply of levels of decision-making has not resulted in a clear indication of who is responsible for what. In fact, the EU Commission’s reluctance to accept final responsibility for the implementation of the budget is not compensated for by a corresponding acceptance of responsibility by the member states. The consequence is an ambiguous situation that has endangered the whole principle of budget accountability to the European taxpayer. The paper concludes by urging final responsibility of the Commission for implementing the budget.