How big is the Parliament's budget? 

The 2021 EP budget amounts to around €2 billion.

Parliament is able to support the work of its 705 MEPs and operate in 24 different languages thanks to its annual budget. This represents one fifth of all EU institutions’ total administrative expenditure and only 1.2% of the EU’s general budget. The vast majority of EU funding is invested directly in the member states.

How the budget is decided?

The procedure for drawing up Parliament’s budget normally starts in February. The Secretary-General comes up with a proposal, defining the priorities and resources for the following year. The bureau, composed of the President and the 14 Vice-Presidents, use this as the basis for adopting preliminary draft estimates and submits them to the budgets committee.

One of the committee members - known as the budget rapporteur - is appointed to draw up a report outlining Parliament’s work priorities and proposing how much money should be spent on them. First the budgets committee votes on the report and then all MEPs vote on it during a plenary session, usually in May. These estimates are then incorporated in the EU’s draft budget for the following year, which MEPs amend and adopt during a plenary session in December at the latest.