EU annual budget 2027: Council sets guidelines for next year’s EU budget
The Council today approved conclusions setting guidelines for the EU’s annual budget for 2027. The guidelines provide political steer to the Commission in preparing the draft budget proposal for next year – the last annual budget exercise of the EU’s multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027.
In its conclusions, the Council underlines that the EU budget for 2027 has a key role in the development and delivery of the EU’s long-term objectives and political priorities.
The Council also stresses the importance for the 2027 budget to continue showing the EU’s solidarity with the people of Ukraine and to respond to related crises, including humanitarian needs.
The Council considers that the budget for 2027 should be realistic, in line with actual needs, ensure prudent budgeting and leave sufficient margins under MFF ceilings to deal with unforeseen circumstances and to address the EU’s challenges.
At the same time, the budget for 2027 should provide sufficient resources to ensure the implementation of Union programmes.
The Council stresses the need for the Commission to identify in the draft budget for 2027 the redeployments necessary to finance the priorities laid down in the revised MFF 2021-2027.
The Council invites the Commission to take into account the agreement on the 2025 and 2026 budgets with regard to the resources to be used for NextGenerationEU interest payments in case they cannot be covered by the existing budget line.
Background
The EU’s annual budget lays down all the European Union’s expenditure and revenue for one year. It provides for the funding of EU policies and programmes in line with the EU’s political priorities and legal obligations, within the ceilings established through the seven-year MFF.
Each year, the Commission proposes the draft annual budget for the year that follows. It is then the Council and the European Parliament who agree on the final budget on an equal footing.
