In Brussels on Thursday 1 December, the European Parliament approved (by 438 votes in favour, 194 against and 7 abstentions) the EU budget for 2017 (see EUROPE 11677). The budget was then signed off by the President of the EP, Martin Schulz.
The plenary debate the day before showed that the MEPs feel the 2017 budget was a step in the right direction. Many of them, however, would have liked to see more money for investment, growth, jobs and controls on migration flows.
The total amount in...