On 14 February, ahead of the Informal Leaders' meeting on 23 February, the Commission presented various options – and their financial consequences – for a new and modern, long-term EU budget that delivers efficiently on its priorities after 2020. The work helped EU leaders to discuss how to ensure that the priorities they have set for the Union - on 16 September 2016 in Bratislava and on 25 March 2017 in the Rome Declaration - can be adequately funded and thus turned into reality. The Commission contribution to this discussion included the facts about the EU budget, scenarios which illustrate the financial impact of various policy choices, and an illustration of the consequences for students, researchers, infrastructure projects and many others in case the adoption of the new EU budget were to be delayed. The Commission also proposed to modernise the EU budget, for example by making the link between the goals of the budget and the way it is funded stronger. Other proposals explore the possibility of strengthening the link – often referred to as "conditionality" - between EU funding and the respect for the EU's fundamental values.