Discussions over the future EU budget were officially launched by the European Commission as it presented its proposals for the post-2013 Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) under the title ‘A Budget for Europe 2020’. Headline reactions to the policy package from national governments have been dominated by reactions to the proposed new system of own resources and particularly the idea of an EU financial transactions tax for funding large parts of the EU budget in the future. Environmental stakeholders have welcomed parts of the package such as the increased commitment to climate change and energy but have been critical on the whole, with the budget falling far short of the major and strategic realignment with climate and biodiversity priorities that many had called for.

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