The performance framework of the eu budget: A path to public value creation?

The European Union (EU) budget is the result of a complex process of negotiation between different actors and perspectives and plays a key role in managing relationships across different levels of government. Given the extraordinary times we live in and the size of the current EU budget, it is even more critical to maximize its performance. In this context, it is thus crucial to understand how the EU sets its performance budget and how performance is conceptualized and measured to guide the delivery of public value. The current era places an increasing focus on the creation of public value and the pursuit of good interests, but how to define and measure them and how to allocate resources to them is challenging. The research was carried out by reviewing available documents concerning the EU budget and interviewing European Commission experts dealing with the EU budget process and reforms. The purpose of the chapter is to shed light on how the EU compiles its performance budget and whether and how this approach is suitable for enhancing the delivery of public value. It contributes to the underdeveloped streams of literature on performance budgeting at the EU level and on public value budgeting.