Multiannual Financial Framework

The financial framework sets the maximum amount of spendings in the EU budget each year for broad policy areas ("headings") and fixes an overall annual ceiling on payment and commitment appropriations.

[citation needed] UK Prime Minister Tony Blair accepted to review the British rebate, negotiated by Margaret Thatcher in 1984.

The MFF for 2014 to 2020 set a ceiling for expenditure at 1% of European Gross National Income, a reduction from the prior framework.

The main goal was reduction of asymmetric levels of development of the EU's regions and expansion of the support of the Union's cohesion policy.

Compensations: ceiling in sum of €27 million was set to support Croatia in contributing less than gained benefits during the first year after its accession to the European Union.

Flexibility instrument, with fixed annual amount of €471 million, was dedicated to clearly identified needs out of the scope of the MFF ceilings.

Contingency margin equals to 0.03% of the EU's gross national income (approximately €4 billion) was intended to be used as last-resort instrument in reacting to unforeseen circumstances.

[4] The European Union's MFF for the period 2021-2027 is equipped with a budget of €1,074.3 billion in 2018 prices to address the EU's long-term priorities.

[5] It goes together with the Next Generation EU recovery package (NGEU) of €750 billion in grants and loans over the period 2021–2024 to meet the unparalleled socio-economic challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.