The European Parliament will hold a plenary vote Wednesday (Dec. 12) on whether to approve a 2013 EU budget that allocates €9.6 billion ($12.4 billion) in commitments and €6.3 billion in payments for external affairs spending.
The vote is the final step in the process to adopt the EU budget. The plenary vote follows the budget committees’ approval of the package it has agreed on with the Council of the European Union. This package includes a 2013 budget worth €150.9 billion in commitments and €132.8 billion in payments and additional funding for 2012 worth $6 billion.
Budgetary debates among European Union institutions, however, do not end with Wednesday’s plenary vote — even if the parliament agrees to adopt the budget. Discussions are then expected to shift toward the bloc’s multiannual financial framework for 2017-2020. Attempts to reach a deal on this four-year budget has so far failed to progress.
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