Abstract

Eu budget system is based on a decision - i.e. the multiannual financial framework - that covers a period of seven years (2014-2020) and in which big revenue and expenditure items are fixed. This decision starts up through a Commission proposal to the Parliament and the Council, which finally will decide. This proposal is very conservative, both in terms of size and in terms of structure of the expenditure. Eu budget will remain quite small (1.1% of Eu GDP). The obstacle is that three quarters of the resources of this budget depend on transfers from Member States' budgets. The framework of expenditure continues to be dominated by the CAP - although its weight is decreasing - and by the Structural Funds. It is difficult to intervene in policies whose benefits distribute unequally among various Countries. Administration expenditure is substantially unchanged. Among the innovative proposals, the most interesting provides for a tax on financial transactions (Tobin tax), since it would give considerable weight to Eu-own resources.