The multiannual financial framework and the flexibility instruments

Abstract

This study will attempt to investigate how the European Union’s budget is effectively implemented in two specific periods: the 2007-2013 period and the 2014-2020 period of the Multiannual Financial Framework. This will lead us to understand the necessary measures that should be taken for the the next period of the MFF, the 2021-2027 period. In addition, flexibility instruments will be referred to and compared in both periods, in terms of efficiency and how their role differed through time.

In order to understand the effectiveness of the EU Flexibility Instruments, it was essential for this study to find the appropriate tools to gather the required data. This dissertation relies mostly on statistics, which means that quantitative methods were mostly used to evaluate flexibility instruments and answer the three research questions. Whilst quantitative methods were the preferred methodological tool, the author made use of primary sources in the form of secondary sources to have the opinion of various scholars on these instruments. Two case studies are used to learn more about the MFF and its instruments by considering the member states perspective and their reaction in this regard. Recommendations are also provided to have a more transparent and ambitious EU budget as well as evaluating the importance of the concept of flexibility. The conclusion finishes off with the main research findings as well as the main points for a sustainable MFF after UK officially leaves the European Union.