EP will not accept the EU long-term budget unless demands are met

Parliament won't accept the proposed long-term budget for the EU until all payments for 2012 have been made and there are agreements on future funding and a comprehensive revision, EP president Martin Schulz said Wednesday after MEPs voted to reject the agreement reached by heads of government on 8 February. "This important resolution paves the way for possible negotiations with the Council on the long-term EU budget 2014-2020," he said.

The long-term budget - also known as the multiannual framework or MFF - determines EU expenditure for the next seven years, broken down by policy area.

The EP president said Parliament would not be able to accept the proposal from the member states without certain essential conditions being met: "There must be maximum overall flexibility and an ambitious agreement on own resources.  The European Parliament also demands a compulsory, legally binding and comprehensive revision of the multiannual financial framework decided by qualified majority in the Council."

Mr Schulz added that Parliament would not even enter into negotiations until unpaid payment claims for 2012 had been covered and stressed that these issues were of fundamental importance to Parliament. "The European Parliament will not accept the proposal from the member states unless there is movement on all of these issues."