L 347/884 Official Journal of the European Union 20.12.2013 COUNCIL REGULATION (EU, EURATOM) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 312 thereof, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 106a thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, Having regard to the consent of the European Parliament, After transmission of the draft legislative act to national parlia- ments, Acting in accordance with a special legislative procedure, Whereas: (1) The annual ceilings on commitments appropriations by category of expenditure and the annual ceilings on payment appropriations established by this Regulation must respect the ceilings set for commitments and own resources in Council Decision 2007/436/EC Euratom (*). (2)  Taking into account the need for an adequate level of predictability for preparing and implementing medium- term investments, the duration of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) should be set at seven years starting on 1 January 2014. A review will take place in 2016 at the latest, following the European Parliament elections. This will allow the institutions, including the European Parliament elected in 2014, to reassess the priorities. The results of this review should be taken into account in any revision of this Regulation for the remaining years of the MFF. This arrangement is here- inafter referred to as "review/revision". (3)  In the context of the mid-term review/revision of the MFF, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission agree to jointly examine the most suitable (1) Council Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom of 7 June 2007 on the system of the European Communities’ own resources (O] L 163, 23.6.2007, p. 17). duration for the subsequent MFF before the Commission presents its proposals with a view to striking the right balance between the duration of the respective terms of office of the members of the European Parliament and the European Commission - and the need for stability for programming cycles and investment predictability. Specific and maximum possible flexibility should be implemented to allow the Union to fulfil its obligations in compliance with Article 323 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The following special instruments are necessary to allow the Union to react to specified unforeseen circumstances, or to allow the financing of clearly identified expenditure which cannot be financed within the limits of the ceilings available for one or more headings as laid down in the MFF, thereby facilitating the budgetary procedure: the Emergency Aid Reserve, the European Union Solidarity Fund, the Flexibility Instrument, the European Global- isation Adjustment Fund, the Contingency Margin, the specific flexibility to tackle youth unemployment and strengthen research and the global margin for commitments for growth and employment, in particular youth employment. Specific provision should therefore be made for a possibility to enter commitment appropri- ations into the budget over and above the ceilings set out in the MFF where it is necessary to use special instru- ments. If it is necessary to mobilise the guarantees given under the general budget of the Union for the loans provided under the Balance of Payment Facility or the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 (3 and in Council Regu- lation (EU) No 407/2010 (%), respectively, the necessary amount should be mobilised over and above the ceilings of the commitments and payments appropriations of the MFF, while respecting the own-resources ceiling. The MFF should be laid down in 2011 prices. The rules for technical adjustments to the MFF to recalculate the ceilings and margins available should also be laid down. (3) Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 of 18 February 2002 estab- lishing a facility providing medium-term financial assistance for Member States’ balances of payments (O] L 53, 23.2.2002, p. 1). (}) Council Regulation (EU) No 407/2010 of 11 May 2010 establishing a European financial stabilisation mechanism (O] L 118, 12.5.2010, p.- 1).