Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council highlighted that the agreement reached by the EU leaders on the next multi-annual budget, it is a balanced and growth-oriented budget for Europe for the rest of the decade. The European Economic and Social Committee President, Staffan Nilsson, stressed that it is good a deal is struck, however he also added that the results are disappointing.

The EU leaders reached an agreement on the next multi-annual budget in a meeting held on 7 and 8 of February. According to the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, the compromise shows a sense of collective responsibility from Europe’s leaders, but a final agreement must still be reached with the European Parliament. In September 2012, some member states already welcomed Cyprus presidency proposal of reducing the EU's multiannual financial framework ceiling.

Mr Van Rompuy highlighted from the agreement reached that compared to the previous Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), there is an overall increase of €34 billion (or nearly 40%) in the heading for Competitiveness for Growth and Jobs. He also added that there will also be a real, net increase for programmes like "Erasmus for all" and "Horizon 2020" for innovation. In addition, €30 billion will be allocated to the "connecting Europe" facility in order to invest and develop transport, energy and ICT networks.

The President of the Council also recognised that for the first time ever, there is a real cut compared to the last multiannual financial framework (MFF). EU leaders agreed that it will be a cut of roughly €34 billion for both commitments and payments (compared to the period 2007-2013). On the other hand, as they agreed that the most urgent challenge is unemployment, in particular among the youth, they have set aside €6 billion for a new 'Youth employment' initiative. In allocating structural funds, special attention was given to countries like Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland, while overall, poorer countries will receive a larger share of cohesion funding. Mr Van Rompuy also underlined that the EU support to the most vulnerable people will remain intact. According to him, the newt budget will allow Europe to keep engaging on vital global issues, such as climate change, nuclear safety, and development aid.