Parliament and Ministers settle on EU budget cut

The European Parliament and Council have agreed to raise the EU budget by only 1.86 per cent in 2012 compared to 2011. In real terms this means that the EU budget is decreased, because the raise in payments is below the EU inflation forecast of 2 per cent.

Despite this overall budget cut, EU research spending has been relatively protected. “Particular attention is dedicated to programmes aimed at stimulating growth and employment [such as Framework 7], which was reinforced by €92 million in commitments compared to the draft budget” proposed by the European Commission, the Council wrote in a statement.