On Tuesday 18 February, the EU finance ministers adopted the budget guidelines for 2021, in which they encourage all the institutions to collaborate efficiently and constructively, “allowing for a smooth budgetary procedure and the establishment of the budget for 2021 within the deadlines set by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)”.
The 2021 budget will be the first budget in the new multiannual financial framework (MFF) and, following agreement on the 2021-2027 MFF, the European Commission will be late in adopting its draft budget plan for 2021.
The Council of the EU states that the budget for 2021 should provide sufficient resources to ensure the implementation of the Union's programmes and to allow commitments already made under the current MFF to be paid in due time, if necessary and in duly justified cases, after implementing all possible reallocations within the budget, through the use of available flexibilities, in order to avoid any unpaid claims submitted by the Member States.
The Commission is invited to provide in a transparent way reliable and accurate forecasts of all revenues, including the annual amount payable by the United Kingdom in 2021 in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, which will allow Member States to assess in a timely manner their expected contribution to the EU budget. The guidelines can be found at: http://bit.ly/2P4vcP3 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)