Tuck into this treat cooked up by EPTV to give you a flavour of how the EU budget is decided, funded and sliced up between sectors.

The EU budget sliced & diced

I'm here to buy the ingredients  for tonight's dinner

but what's my budget?  Just this 10 euro note

so I'd better stick  to the ingredients on my list.

But just like me  and my simple grocery shopping,

Europe too has a recipe  for its own budget

and how that's decided  and where all the money comes from

So what's it all about?  Time to take a closer look.

The multiannual financial framework,  or MFF,

is commonly referred to  as the European budget.

The current 960 billion euro budget came  into force in 2014 and runs until 2020.

But technically, it's not a budget,  it's a guidebook on spending.

by Member States  and is divided into three parts.

A fixed percentage  of their gross national income,

custom duties on imports  from outside the EU

and a percentage of VAT income.  And where does all that money go?

Well, what each sector  or policy area receives

is allocated  across the 7-year fixed period.

For example, the Common Agricultural  Policy gets 312 billion euros,

research and innovation  almost 80 billion euros

and youth employment initiatives  get 3 billion euros, to name but a few.

How the budget works is easily explained  through a simple demonstration.

What each country pays in  depends on the size of their economy.

Germany, with the largest,  puts in the biggest chunk...

In fact, along with Spain and Italy,  half the budget is already paid for.

So what countries like Luxembourg  or Slovenia put in pales in comparison.

But remember that these  are smaller economies.

Greece for example pays a big percentage  of its gross national income to the EU,

but gets more back a lot more  than it pays in.

But remember that the budget  is all about balance.

In 1984, British Prime Minister  Margaret Thatcher negotiated a rebate

on the basis that too much British coin  went into the Common Agricultural Policy,

from which British farmers didn't benefit.

So the UK now gets back 66%  of the difference

between what they pay in  and what they get back.

But the UK isn't alone:  Germany, Austria, Sweden

and the Netherlands  all take back some of what they put in.

The big idea behind the budget  has been to boost the standard of living.

Especially after the crisis, this multi-year  budget's focus has been growth and jobs.

All three institutions  have a say in the budget.

But as we've seen it can be a tug of war.

States wanted spending cuts  but Parliament wanted more money

to invest in Europe's future.  Fighting also broke out

over 'own resources',  how countries contribute to the budget.

A financial transaction tax was put forward  as an alternative to the current system.

After two and a half years  they all agreed

and the current system  of contributions remains as it is for now.

So just like we're tucking into  our well-prepared meal so is Europe.

What shape will the next EU budget take?  Well, that's another story.