EU Parliament Approves Union's Budget for 2015

Members of the European Parliament voting during the plenary session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Photo: EPA

The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) approved the 2015 budget of the European Union (EU) on Wednesday.

The agreement represents a final compromise between the Parliament and the Council of the EU, which foresees EUR 145.3 billion in contributions and EUR 141.2 billion in payments for next year.

The Parliament also approved EUR 4.25 billion for the settling of unpaid bills in 2014.

The Parliament has pressured the European Commission (EC) to present a concrete solution for reducing the backlog of unpaid bills from EU programmes.

The deal for the 2015 budget was reached after the Commission came up with a second proposal as the Parliament and Council had failed to agree on the original draft.

The new budget provides for 2 % more funding and 1 % more payments compared to 2014.

The EU budget amounts to slightly more than 1 % of the gross national income of all 28 member states.

The draft budget is presented by the Commission and amended by the Parliament and Council.

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