advertentieToday, the European Commission unveiled its proposal for an ambitious and dynamic Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), totaling nearly EUR 2 trillion (or 1.26% of the EUs gross national income on average between 2028 and 2034). This framework aims to provide Europe with a long-term investment budget that aligns with its ambitions for a prosperous, secure, and thriving society and economy over the next decade.
Europe is facing increasing challenges in areas such as security, defense, competitiveness, migration, energy, and climate resilience. These issues are not fleeting; they signify fundamental geopolitical and economic changes that require a robust and proactive response.
The Commission proposes a comprehensive redesign of the EU budget to be more streamlined, flexible, and impactful. This budget will enhance the EUs ability to implement essential policies while addressing emerging priorities. It will continue to support individuals, businesses, Member States, regions, partners, and, most importantly, the collective future of the EU.
A modern EU budget necessitates updated and stable sources of revenue. Therefore, the Commission is proposing new own resources and adjustments to existing ones to alleviate pressure on national budgets, generating EUR 58.5 billion annually.
President von der Leyen stated: “Our new long-term budget will help protect European citizens, strengthen Europes social model, and make our European industry thrive. In times of geopolitical instability, this budget will empower Europe to shape its destiny in line with its vision and ideals. A budget that fosters peace and prosperity and upholds our values is the best tool we have during these uncertain times.”
Key Features of the New MFF
- Increased flexibility across the budget, enabling Europe to act and respond swiftly to unexpected changes or new policy priorities.
- Simplified, streamlined, and harmonized EU financial programs, allowing citizens and businesses to easily access funding opportunities.
- A budget tailored to local needs, featuring National and Regional Partnership Plans focused on targeted investments and reforms, ensuring rapid and flexible support for greater economic, social, and territorial cohesion throughout the Union.
- A strong boost to competitiveness, enabling Europe to secure supply chains, scale up innovation, and lead in the global race for clean and smart technology.
- A balanced package of new own resources to ensure sufficient revenue for priorities while minimizing pressure on national public finances.
The Commissions proposal aims to align EU funding with the EUs political priorities, achieving results that national budgets cannot accomplish alone.
Investing in People, Member States, and Regions
The new long-term budget will unify EU funds implemented by Member States and Regions under a cohesive strategy, centered on cohesion and agricultural policy. This strategy will be executed through National and Regional Partnership Plans, designed to maximize the impact of every euro. By integrating all relevant support measures into one plan per Member State—whether for workers, farmers, fishermen, urban or rural areas, and national levels—it ensures a stronger impact and more efficient use of European funding.
The Plans will promote convergence and reduce regional disparities, identifying investments and reforms to better tackle future challenges for Member States and Regions.
These Plans will be developed and executed in close collaboration with the Commission, Member States, regions, local communities, and other stakeholders. Each Member State will have access to the same funding levels as today.
Additionally, a mandatory minimum allocation for less developed regions will be ensured, safeguarding that they receive at least as much funding as under the current cohesion envelope.
Income support for farmers and fishermen will be safeguarded, including environmental measures, on-farm investments, support for young farmers, and risk management tools. Funding rules for agriculture and rural communities will be simplified, encompassing payments, controls, and audits.
The new Partnership Plans will foster quality employment, skills, and social inclusion across all Member States, regions, and sectors. They will promote equal opportunities, support robust social safety nets, encourage social inclusion, intergenerational fairness, and combat poverty. 14% of national allocations will be directed towards financing reforms and investments that enhance skills, fight poverty, promote social inclusion, and support rural areas.
Respect for the Rule of Law will remain a fundamental condition. The Conditionality Regulation will continue to safeguard the entire EU budget from breaches of the rule of law. The National and Regional Partnership Plans will include further safeguards to ensure Member States uphold the principles of the rule of law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Transparency regarding beneficiaries of the EU budget will be strengthened. Information on recipients of EU funds will be made available in a centralized database.
Fostering Education and Democratic Values
Enhancing investment in skills is essential for helping EU students and workers seize opportunities. Supporting individuals also means fostering a vibrant civic space and protecting artistic and cultural freedom. The long-term budget will continue investing in skills, culture, media, and values. A reinforced Erasmus+ program will serve as the backbone of the Union of Skills, emphasizing education mobility, solidarity, and inclusivity. A strong AgoraEU program will promote shared values, including democracy, equality, and the rule of law, while supporting European cultural diversity, audiovisual and creative sectors, media freedom, and civil society engagement.
Driving Prosperity through Competitiveness, Research, and Innovation
A new European Competitiveness Fund, valued at EUR 409 billion, will invest in strategic technologies that benefit the entire Single Market, as recommended in the Letta and Draghi Reports. This Fund, operating under a unified framework and providing a single entry point for funding applicants, will simplify and accelerate EU funding while catalyzing private and public investment. It will focus on four key areas:
- clean transition and decarbonization;
- digital transition;
- health, biotech, agriculture, and bioeconomy;
- defense and space.
The Fund will maximize the impact of every euro spent by attracting private capital.
In conjunction with the European Competitiveness Fund, the renowned EU research framework, Horizon Europe, valued at EUR 175 billion, will continue to finance world-class innovation.
Horizon Europe and the Competitiveness Fund will support the entire investment journey of projects (from conception to scale-up) while reducing costs for potential beneficiaries and speeding up disbursement.
Protecting People and Building Preparedness and Resilience
The long-term budget will equip Europe with faster, more efficient, and flexible tools to withstand shocks and respond to emerging challenges. It will continue to enhance Europes resilience by financing the Preparedness Union and preparing for all stages of crisis management: from prevention to response and recovery. The Commission proposes a new dedicated crisis mechanism with a capacity of nearly EUR 400 billion in loans to Member States, triggered in the event of severe crises affecting the Union. Additionally, national and regional partnerships will support investments and reforms in all areas of preparedness and crisis management. An agriculture reserve will assist farmers and stabilize markets as necessary.
The European Competitiveness Fund will also bolster the EUs preparedness and strategic autonomy in key sectors and technologies by developing industrial capacities and funding cutting-edge technologies. Lastly, the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and support for health emergency preparedness and response will be further strengthened by integrating health preparedness activities.
Protecting Europe
The long-term budget will contribute to establishing a European Defence Union, enabling it to protect itself, remain connected, and act swiftly when necessary. The defense and space window of the European Competitiveness Fund will allocate EUR 131 billion to support investments in defense, security, and space, representing a fivefold increase in funding at the EU level compared to the previous MFF. Member States and regions will have the opportunity to support defense-related projects on a voluntary basis, according to regional needs and priorities, in their national and regional partnership plans. The military mobility component of the Connecting Europe Facility will see a tenfold increase, supporting dual-use infrastructure investments alongside civilian ones and significantly enhancing cybersecurity, infrastructure, and overall defense development. To improve energy security, the Connecting Europe Facility will finance cross-border energy and transport projects.
The new budget also allocates increased funding for migration management to strengthen the EUs external borders and enhance internal security. EUR 34 billion will be designated, tripling the funding compared to the previous MFF. Member States will receive EU support to respond rapidly and effectively to developments on the ground. These funds will help Member States enhance law enforcement capabilities both online and offline, equip border guards with the necessary tools to secure external borders, and implement a fair and robust migration management system under the Pact for Migration and Asylum.
Building Partnerships for a Stronger Europe in the World
This new Multiannual Financial Framework anticipates reinforced external action to align with a more strategic, values-driven, and impactful approach to enlargement, partnerships, and diplomacy, consistent with the EUs strategic interests.
To streamline external action financing, a Global Europe, valued at EUR 200 billion for 2028-2034, will maximize impact on the ground and enhance visibility of EU external actions in partner countries. This will enable the EU budget to increase support for candidate countries and prepare them for accession. This instrument will have a dedicated reserve capacity of EUR 15 billion to address emerging crises and unforeseen needs.
To underscore the Unions unwavering support for Ukraine, EUR 100 billion may be mobilized for Ukraine between 2028 and 2034. Support for Ukraine will be flexible due to the scale and unpredictability of needs. Operations with military aspects will continue to be funded through the European Peace Facility.
The proposed new budget will also sustain financing for Common Foreign and Security Policy actions amounting to EUR 3.4 billion, contributing to the EUs objectives of preserving peace, enhancing international security, promoting international cooperation, and strengthening democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
New Own Resources to Match Our Common Ambition
To empower itself, Europe must also establish a modern and diversified revenue stream. This will create the means to fund its priorities while repaying debts incurred under NextGenerationEU and limiting national contributions to the EU budget. To achieve this, the Commission proposes five new own resources:
- EU Emissions Trading System (ETS): targeted adjustments of revenues generated from ETS1 will contribute to the EU budget, expected to yield around EUR 9.6 billion annually.
- Carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM): targeted adjustments of revenues generated from CBAM will contribute to the EU budget, expected to yield around EUR 1.4 billion annually.
- Own resource based on non-collected e-waste through the application of a uniform rate on the weight of non-collected e-waste, expected to generate around EUR 15 billion annually.
- Tobacco excise duty own resource, based on the application of a rate on the Member State-specific minimum excise duty rate levied on tobacco products, expected to generate around EUR 11.2 billion annually.
- Corporate Resource for Europe (CORE), consisting of an annual lump-sum contribution from companies (excluding small and medium-sized enterprises) operating and selling in the EU with a net annual turnover of at least EUR 100 million, expected to generate around EUR 6.8 billion annually.
Combined, these five new own resources and other elements of the own resources package proposed today are estimated to generate approximately EUR 58.5 billion annually (in 2025 prices).
Next Steps
The decision on the future long-term EU budget and revenue system will be discussed by Member States in the Council. Adoption of the MFF Regulation requires unanimity, following the consent of the European Parliament. Some elements of the revenue side (notably the new own resources) also require unanimity in the Council and approval by Member States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements. The Commission will do its utmost to support a swift agreement.
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