By Eliane Portillo

At the meeting of the General Affairs Council on 5 December 2011, ministers continued work on the next multiannual financial framework (MFF). They had agreed earlier that the next MFF would cover the period from 2014 to 2020.

The debate was based on a comprehensive note by the Polish presidency, aimed  at taking stock of the debate so far. Since the MFF encompasses a wide array of policy areas, topics as diverse as cohesion, the Connecting Europe Facility, the Common Agricultural Policy and security and citizenship were discussed.

In addition, the way in which different kinds of mechanism and instrument are going to work has to be determined, for instances as regards the different types of conditionality. Overall, several aspects of the proposal submitted by the Commission need further clarification and examination; this applies for example to the new VAT own-resource or the use of innovative financial instruments.

This was the last debate about the MFF during the Polish presidency. Formal negotiations are expected to begin in early 2012.