The European Community budget was the area where the European Parliament first acquired a significant role in European level decision back in the 1970s. Over the years it used these powers effectively, blocking the annual and supplementary budgets on occasion and making clear to the other budgetary institutions, the Council (a co-decider on the budget) and the Commission, that it was willing to utilise its powers to the full. The move to a multi-annual budgetary framework in the 1990s also gave considerable latitude to the EP on matters of non-compulsory expenditure, but it was only with the Lisbon Treaty that the budgetary procedures matched those in the legislative sphere, with MEPs finally granted a say on all aspects of the budget. They swiftly demonstrated their willingness to use their new powers, challenging the Council over the 2011 and 2012 budgets. Negotiations on the 2014-2020 multi-annual financial framework gives further scope for Europe’s democratically elected representatives to play a key role. But where do national parliaments fit into the picture? Negotiations occur at the levels of MEPs and national governments, with apparently limited scope for national parliaments to scrutinise the budgetary process. This paper will evaluate the formal powers of parliaments at the national and EU levels in setting the EU budget and assess the scope for inter-parliamentary cooperation to help resolve some of the key issues.
