By Paul Nettleton | 4 July 2013

The European Parliament has endorsed the €960bn European Union budget for the seven years to 2020.

Council president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission president José Manuel Barroso hailed the deal as an investment fund for growth and jobs.

While MEPs will vote on the final wording of the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014–2020 in the autumn, they yesterday backed the outcome of budget talks with the European Council by 474 votes to 193, with 42 abstentions.

It follows unsuccessful earlier attempts to reach agreement between the Parliament, the European Council, which represents EU government heads, and the European Commission. The European Council had proposed a budget that was 3.33% smaller in real terms than the current €994bn budget.

The Parliament rejected this and have now  secured flexibility to switch money between years and categories of spending. This will enable it to finance: youth employment and research policies; a doubling of the Erasmus For All exchange programme; and support for small and medium sized firms.

A ‘revision clause’ will give the next Parliament and European Commission a say in 2016 on a budget they would otherwise be stuck with until their terms ended. The review will aim to align the future duration of the MFF, currently seven years, with the five-year political cycle.