MEPs have set out their position on the next long-term EU budget, which should finance new priorities as well as make up for any shortfall caused by Brexit. 

The European Parliament adopted two resolutions on the expenditure and revenue sides of the next multi-annual financial framework (MFF), to apply from 2021.  

The next MFF must provide the means to tackle new challenges  

Parliament wants the EU budget to match political priorities and address some of the new challenges facing all member states, be they migration, defence, security or climate change. They consider that the current limit on EU expenditure needs to be raised from 1% to 1.3% of EU GNI, in order to be able to fund these new priority areas without sacrificing Europe’s poorest regions or farming communities.  

Key proposals include boosting research programmes, Erasmus+, the Youth Employment Initiative and support for SMEs as well as infrastructure investment through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).