Budget 2014-2020: Don't sacrifice EU's future to the current crisis, say MEPs
EU member states must not use the economic crisis as a pretext to force austerity upon the EU until 2020, MEPs warned in a debate on Wednesday. The EU needs a budget that is flexible enough to cope with unforeseen events and is funded from new sources, they added. The debate with Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Ireland's EU Presidency Minister Lucinda Creighton was Parliament's final input to the 7-8 February EU budget summit.
Barroso looses the plot again
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EU economic governance: European Parliament approves Commission comprehensive package of proposals for legislative measures
The European Parliament, sitting in Strasbourg on 28 September, approved the Commission's proposals for six pieces of legislation setting out robust new rules for the future economic governance of the EU and the euro area. This "six-pack" was tabled by the Commission exactly one year ago as part of its comprehensive response to the financial and economic crisis. It has been the subject of sometimes tough negotiations between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.