The EU's financial landscape has developed over many decades and its centrepiece is the EU budget. This provides funding for a wide variety of policy areas, such as farming, the development of rural and urban areas, transport infrastructure, research, health, migration, and aid for developing countries. It also finances the running of the EU institutions and other bodies. The annual EU budget must keep to the limits set by the EU's long-term spending plan, known as the multiannual financial framework (MFF). This defines the maximum amount of money that can be spent in each policy area over a number of years. However, other EU funds and instruments have been established outside the EU budget and are financed, for example, by direct contributions from member states.​