During the debate preceding the vote, on Monday evening, MEPs discussed the priorities and the size of next year's budget.

“Lisbon has given us new responsibilities. People will have higher expectations of the European Union. We have got the External Action Service, we need to pay for that, and we need to budget for research and development and of course there is the financial crisis, which on the other hand says we should save money... We in Parliament and Council have high ambitions. We need to make sure that we bring these ambitions into being and don't simply have them set out in fine words on paper”, said Sidonia Elżbieta Jędrzejewska (EPP, PL) who is leading Parliament's work on the 2011 budget.

New challenges to finance in 2011

Next year's budget will need to finance five new agencies and three that are being phased in (including the European Asylum Support Office, the European Banking Authority and the European Institute for Gender Equality) and prepare for future enlargements. The EU 2020 strategy and the European Stabilisation Financial Mechanism will also need budget funding. In addition, Parliament would like the EU to focus more resources on programmes for young people.

Regarding the EU's external action, MEPs are “extremely worried” by the proposed reduction of more than 32% for financial assistance to Palestine, the peace process and UNRWA. They believe the EU should play a political role that delivers “tangible results towards the creation of a Palestinian state” and that its role should be “consistent with its significant financial assistance and economic weight in the region”.

MEPs are especially concerned about heading 1a (Competitiveness for growth and employment), where the margins set out in the long-term budgetary framework are very tight. This heading will need to finance many of the EU2020 priorities and some new EU policies, for which the EU acquired new powers with the Lisbon treaty. To meet all these new challenges, there is an urgent need to revise the current long-term budgetary framework, say MEPs.

On Tuesday afternoon, MEPs will debate the need for a review of the long-term budgetary framework, also known as the multiannual financial framework or the financial perspective, with the Commission and the Council.

The limits in the long-term budgetary framework

The 2011 draft budget was proposed by the Commission on 27 April under the theme “The future beyond the crisis - laying the cornerstone for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”. The Commission proposed €142.6 billion in commitments (up 2.2% on 2010) and €130.1 billion in payments (up 5.9%).

The 2011 budget is the first to be negotiated under the Lisbon Treaty, which means that Parliament now has a full say over the whole budget, including agriculture. Nevertheless, the 2011 budget still has to stay within the limits of the EU's “financial perspective” or long-term budgetary framework. The financial perspective lays down the following limits for 2011:

Budget limits in commitments, per heading

1 a. Competitiveness for growth and employment - €13.0 billion

1 b. Cohesion for growth and employment - €50.7 billion

2. Conservation and management of natural resources (including market expenditure and direct payments) - €60.3 billion

3. Citizenship, freedom, security and justice:

3 a. Freedom, security and justice - €1.21 billion

3 b. Citizenship - €0.683 billion

4. EU as a world player - €8.43 billion

5. Administration - €8.33 billion

Total €142.6 billion (1.13% of GNI)

The limit for payments is €134.3 billion, or 1.06% of GNI.

Sidonia Jędrzejewska's report was adopted by 571 votes to 45 with 41 abstentions.