European Union budget reform: institutions, policy and economic crisis

A tension between (richer) contributing Member States and (poorer) recipient Member States has always characterised the history of the budget of the European Union, the politics of which has often turned fraught. Alongside traditional tensions, newer ones have emerged, including the effect of EU enlargement in 2004-7, which has increased demand on spending, and the effect of the post-2008 economic crises, which has likewise increased demand for spending though faced by conflicting demands for austerity. Finally, the Lisbon Treaty reinforces the power to block agreement on reform to the budget. With the EU due to announce a new budget in 2013, this volume evaluates the prospects for major change to expenditure and the structure of the budget for the period starting in 2014.