Experts in the EU Council, the member states' secretariat in Brussels, have questioned the legality of new cuts to EU officials' benefits. EU countries formally proposed the austerity measures at a meeting in Brussels ...

A June deal on the seven year EU budget framework is "definitely reachable", said EU budget commissioner Janusz Lewandowski on Monday (13 May). Speaking after the first round of negotiations with MEPs and ministers, ...

The European Commission will set out its views on EU treaty change by early next year noting that ideas that now seem like "political science fiction" will eventually become reality. The commission will put forward " ...

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday (22 April) indicated that the EU's budget-slashing response to the economic crisis has run its course. Speaking in Brussels at a meeting of European think tanks, ...

The EU's internal fraud office, Olaf, has had a "significant breakdown" in relations with its supervisory committee - a panel designed to ensure the fraud investigators are working independently of external pressure. ...

The EU would have to halt multi-billion-euro payments to the bloc's poorest regions without an extra €11 billion for the EU budget, MEPs were told Monday (15 April). Speaking at a hearing of the European Parliament's ...

Eurozone unemployment reached a record high of 12 percent in February with national statistics confirming the discrepancy between the more stable northern economies and the struggling southern ones. Figures released the ...

An extra €11.2 billion is needed to cover unpaid bills from the EU budget, the European Commission said on Wednesday (March 27). Budget commissioner Janusz Lewandowski said he tabled the amending budget in a bid to plug ...

The European Commission has started preparing the ground for legislation that would prevent member states from undertaking major tax, labour or financial reforms without running it by the commission and other ...

The political-economic implications of the Cyprus bailout are far-reaching. First of all, the eurozone has for the first time chosen not to protect depositors. Usually when a bank goes belly up, you expect stock holders ...

While EU leaders met in Brussels for their traditional spring summit, thousands of trade unionists staged an afternoon of events to protest against austerity measures.

EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday (14 March) agreed to a more growth-friendly interpretation of deficit rules, but Germany and others insisted that austerity measures will work if given more time. The softened ...

Rising unemployment, bleak economic prospects and continued austerity is making people question the benefits of the EU, Europe's top trade unionist has said. Speaking ahead of Thursday’s (14 March) EU summit, Bernadette ...

MEPs have voted to water down measures aimed at linking farm subsidies to environmental protection as part of reforms to the EU's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). During a marathon, two-hour voting session in Strasbourg ...

Governments must cover the EU's old budget debts before a deal can be reached on the bloc's next seven year budget, MEPs decided on Wednesday (13 March). Deputies in Strasbourg voted by a 509 to 161 margin to back a ...

MEPs are ready to accept the 3 percent EU budget cut agreed by governments in return for more flexibility, according to documents seen by EUobserver. A draft resolution setting out the European Parliament's negotiating ...

The article article by two Swedish national MPs from the Moderate Party about the lowest-ever EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020, entitled "Secret EU budget vote is unacceptable', is not accurate. With ...

European Parliament chief Martin Schulz said Thursday (28 February) that MEPs will only open negotiations on the next long-term budget once member states agree how to fill the around €17 billion gap in this year's ...

Earlier this month EU leaders agreed for the first time ever to a cut in the long term budget of the European Union. At that meeting, hawkish countries such as the UK, Denmark and Sweden managed to achieve an agreement ...

The head of the European Parliament has criticised governments for pressuring MEPs into signing off a deal on the EU budget for 2014-2020, but voiced enthusiastic support for free trade talks with the US. "The so-called ...

The eurozone economy will shrink by a further 0.3 percent in 2013, the European Commission said Friday (22 February), revising down a more optimistic previous estimate that had predicted 0.1 percent growth for this year ...

The German opposition has accused Angela Merkel of betraying Europe by siding with British leader David Cameron in negotiations on the EU budget, the first ever to be smaller budget than its predecessors. "This budget ...

Member state authorities are to blame for the mismanagement of the EU budget, say euro-deputies who scrutinise EU funding. “Better spending starts at home,” said German Social-Democrat MEP Jens Geier on Wednesday (20 ...

EU lawmakers reached a deal on tightening the eurozone's economic governance rules on Wednesday (20 February), after MEPs conceded defeat on the swift creation of a fund to pool sovereign debt. The deal, which has to be ...

The European Parliament's biggest political faction, the centre-right EPP, Monday denounced the proposed €960 billion EU budget in the clearest sign yet that MEPs may reject the recent deal struck by leaders. At a ...

MEPs will have their first official chance to vent their anger at the proposed long term EU budget on Monday (18 February) when they discuss the issue with the presidents of the European Commission and the European ...

Agreement on EU farm subsidies remains far from clear, after the European Commission Monday (11 February) said that the European Parliament could unpick the deal reached last week at the EU budget summit. Leaders went ...

EU leaders emerging out of 25 hours of haggling on Friday (8 February) defended the €960 billion budget for 2014-2020 as "the best deal possible" and urged the European Parliament to live up to its responsibility by ...

After eighteen hours of talks EU leaders early Friday morning (8 February) agreed to a total EU budget of €960 billion for the next seven years, which is smaller than the current €1 trillion budget. The farm budget is ...

MEPs will hold a secret ballot on any budget deal reached at the EU summit, European Parliament President Martin Schultz warned on Thursday (7 February), in the latest sign that MEPs are prepared to hang tough in talks ...

An EU summit on the bloc's seven-year budget kicked off at about 10pm local time in Brussels on Thursday (7 January) - six hours later than planned, after a series of mini-meetings between leaders, which failed to bring ...

This EU summit may see a deal on the bloc's next long term budget. If so, an unofficial 'gift' list will have played a small but significant role in reaching the agreement As part of his efforts to get all 27 member ...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel likes football. So much so, that a Paris stadium seemed like a good place to have a "brief, but intense" conversation with French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday (6 February) on ...

EU leaders are gathering in Brussels on Thursday (7 February) for more horse-trading on the EU's long term budget, with any agreement having to satisfy penny-counting member states while not completely antagonising the ...

Francois Hollande is ready to accept a cut in the EU budget provided that it does not weaken the European economy and protects the poorest countries, the French President told MEPs. Speaking in Strasbourg on Tuesday (5 ...

The leaders of France and Germany have downplayed expectations that a deal will be reached this week on the EU budget for 2014-2020. "We will do everything to find an agreement at the next summit, but conditions are not ...

EU leaders gather in Brussels at the end of the week (4-10 February) for a second attempt to agree the bloc's budget framework for 2014-2020. At stake is how to spend the around 1 trillion euro over the seven year ...

EU economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn is at the centre of a political row after blaming Italy's former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, for the country's financial crisis. In an unusually blunt statement in the ...

Europe is at a critical juncture, both economically and politically. Governments at all levels continue to feel the squeeze on public resources. The next long term budget for the EU must reflect this by directing EU ...

EU politicians are squaring up for a showdown on the bloc's seven year budget ahead of next week's summit. Both the European Parliament and Commission set out their respective stalls on Friday (25 January). "The further ...

MEPs are set to back increased spending on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as parliament flexes legislative muscles acquired under the Lisbon treaty. Speaking after a first round of voting on Wednesday (23 January ...

The German government is pressing for a second attempt to reach a deal on the EU multi-annual budget during the next EU summit scheduled for 7-8 February. But EU Council chief Herman Van Rompuy has not yet put it on the ...

EU leaders early Friday (14 December) had different views on how to deepen integration in the eurozone, with Germany insisting that any new budget aimed at rewarding reforms in the eurozone should be at most €20 billion ...

The European Court of Justice has backed the French government in its dispute with the European Parliament over the much maligned Strasbourg plenary sessions, ruling that the assembly had breached treaty requirements ...

Greece is to get €49.1 billion worth of bailout funds after eurozone finance ministers in Brussels agreed the latest tranche of emergency funding on Thursday (13 December). Athens will receive €34.3 billion "in the ...

The 2013 EU budget has been agreed after MEPs signed off on a deal worth €132.8 billion in Strasbourg on Wednesday (12 December). The agreement breaks months of deadlock between MEPs, the commission and national ...

As the EU nears a deal on its seven-year trillion-euro budget, disability campaigners are fighting to ensure that EU regional funding is only spent on projects that also benefit disabled people. “It should be outlawed ...

EU countries must apply common tax rules to combat tax havens and loopholes allowing businesses to avoid corporation tax, according to new proposals released on Thursday (6 December) by the European Commission. The ...

EU politicians are expected to avoid becoming the first to fail to agree the bloc's annual budget since 1987 after brokering a last minute deal. MEPs tentatively accepted a commission proposal that would increase the EU ...