A report published in December 2018 by the European Think Tanks Group (ETTG), written by: Clare Castillejo (ODI), Niels Keijzer (DIE), Oscar Chmiel (University of Wroclaw), Mariella Di Ciommo (E CDPM), Juha J o kela (FIIA), Erik Lundsgaarde (DIIS), Iliana Olivié and Aitor Perez (Elcano Roy al Institute) Sanne Thijssen (ECDPM), Julie Vaille (IDDRI), Zsuzsanna Vegh (European Univ ersity Viadrina), Bernardo Venturi (IAI).
Key Messages
- The negotiations on the next EU Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) 2020-2027 are moving slowly. Despite the European Commission’s desire for swift progress it now seems unlikely that a deal will be reached before the European Parliament (EP) elections in April 2019.
- A key feature of the proposed MFF is an ambitious budget for EU external action – Heading 6 – and a new single ‘Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument’ (NDICI). This would merge a large number of stand-alone EU external financing instruments into one.
- At this stage it is not clear whether the ambitious size of Heading 6 or the new single instrument will survive the negotiations. Financial resources for EU external action will in large part be determined by battles over other elements of the budget, notably agriculture and regional policy, as they have in the past. And the single instrument has yet to gain support from key Member States (MS) such as France and Poland.
