The European Parliament adopted by 581 votes to 27, with 74 abstentions, a resolution in which it declines to consent to the draft Council regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2007-2013.
To justify this refusal, Parliament recalls that the existing legal instrument laying down the multiannual financial framework needs to be amended following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. To this effect, the three institutions have taken a series of measures:
However, Parliament considers that despite the efforts of the Belgian and Hungarian presidencies-in-office, the Council has not demonstrated any willingness to enter into negotiations on the Lisbon package, as provided for in Article 312(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. A reduction in the degree of flexibility in the multiannual financial framework proposed by the Council would curtail the European Parliament's powers and prerogatives in relation to those which it currently enjoys. Members state that the Lisbon Treaty was not intended to bring about a reduction in the prerogatives of the European Parliament, and the European Parliament is not prepared to accept such a reduction.
Consequently, Parliament has rejected the draft Regulation and considers that the current Interinstitutional Agreement on budgetary discipline and sound financial management continues to remain in force until the new regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework enters into force, with the exception of the articles which have become obsolete following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.