Non-Community spending is a little known, but important part of Europe’s financial resources

Following lengthy negotiations earlier this year, the EU’s member states eventually agreed on the content of the 2014-2020 EU budget. Amélie Barbier-Gauchard writes that in addition to the budget, the EU’s member states also fund a number of projects and initiatives through ‘non-Community European spending’. This form of public spending involves EU members co-operating outside of the EU’s institutions, often through intergovernmental organisations set up independently by European countries. She notes that non-Community spending allows EU countries to pursue European integration under their own initiative, without waiting for a consensus between all 28 member states.