The great paradox. Is it too early to start talking about the EU's next budget? Not at all, because the new multi-annual “Financial Perspectives” ( as the EU's five-year budget is known) will start with the budget for the 2014 financial year and determine precisely what the EU will be able to do in practice. An initial draft prepared by the European Commission wanted to slash funding for two of the EU's crucial activities - the common agricultural policy and the cohesion policy - in...