European Parliament votes no to EU budget

Anna Sonny, 15 March 2013

The European Parliament has demanded changes to the EU budget deal agreed by the 27 EU leaders last month. EU leaders struggled to reach an agreement after the collapse of talks in November, and finally agreed on the first ever real-terms cut in spending after an all-night summit. On Wednesday, MEPs roundly rejected the deal by passing a resolution with 506 votes for changes, 161 against and 23 abstentions.  The resolution was backed by all the EU political parties except the European Conservatives and Reformists.

After criticisms about the European Parliament’s lack of authority in the EU compared to the dominance of the unelected European Commission, the Lisbon Treaty extended its powers and granted the Parliament the right to veto the budget.

The Parliament has not rejected the overall size of the budget, but the flexibility of the spending programmes, arguing that it should be possible for unspent money to be transferred to other areas and in different time frames. It is also calling for a legal review of the budget after EU elections in 2014. The Parliament’s consent must be given for the budget to be passed; negotiations are now set to continue.

If an agreement is not reached by June this year, spending programmes that are set to start in January 2014 could be interrupted.