(Strasbourg) – More funds are needed to cope with the refugee crisis and revive the continent’s economy. This has been clearly stated by the European Parliament, which today approved the “budget guidelines”, the EU’s first document in the complicated yearly budgeting procedure for 2017. The EU Commission will submit a draft by May, and finally the EU Parliament and the EU Council, the EU’s budgeting authorities, will have to reach an agreement by December, up to the max limit set forth for next year’s budget, which is 154 billion euros. So, the procedure has still a long way to go, but the document approved in Strasbourg – with 425 votes for, 200 votes against, and 78 abstentions – shows which priorities have been chosen by the EU Parliament. In this respect, the budget will have to focus “on the refugee crisis and economic recovery by improving the quality and quantity of investments”. The EU Parliament emphasises “the problems of long-term and youth unemployment as well as the unequal economic development in Europe”. The rapporteur, the German MEP Jens Geier, states: “Of course, this year, again, there will not be enough funds to enable the EU to cope with all the tasks it has been entrusted with by the member states”. It is the Multiannual Financial Framework that sets out the max yearly budget. Speaking to the member states, the rapporteur says: “I say to the EU Council: stop denying reality, make the European Union’s budget cope with the crisis”.