The 2009 budget of the European Union is slightly over 1% of the community gross domestic product. The final vote was made by the European Parliament, which shares the budget power with the Council of Member States. The parliament approved the work carried out by the parliamentary commission as well as the reports of MEPs Jutta Haug (Germany) and Janusz Lewandowski (Poland). Total appropriation achieved 131 billion euros, to be divided among several items and political actions: the most important item is growth, competitiveness and cohesion among regions; the second one is common agricultural policy and defence of natural resources; then, to a great distance, there are the items freedom and security, citizenship, external policies and administration expenses. During the negotiations between the budget authorities, higher resources were allocated to research, the Frontex system (safe frontiers), and to the fund for refugees. During the debate, MEPs pointed out again the necessity to accelerate the functioning of structural funds and of the cohesion fund. On the other hand, the parliament said funds for the sector "the European Union as world player" were modest, on the whole (including aids to Palestine, Kosovo, and Georgia).
