MEPs reiterate their call for an ambitious 2028-2034 EU budget

Siegfried Mureşan (EPP, Romania), Parliament’s MFF co-rapporteur, warned that “any cuts to the budget, which would weaken Europe in the years ahead, will not be a basis for the consent of the Parliament. This house will not approve a budget that would not allow us to achieve our goals, or that would affect our capacity to react when there are crises, or unexpected developments”.

Mureșan stated that the Commission had proposed a 2028-2034 budget at the same level as the current 2021-2027 budget despite the growing challenges. The Commission’s proposal accounts for 1.15% of the gross national income of member states, while the current MFF when it was put forward was 1.14% of the GNI of member states. “Any further reduction below the Commission’s proposal would weaken Europe,” he insisted. Mureșan stressed that while national budgets have grown by 68% over the past seven years in absolute numbers, the EU budget has not kept pace; the perception of an ever-growing EU budget is simply not accurate.

Carla Tavares (S&D, Portugal), Parliament’s MFF co-rapporteur, said, “we are no longer dealing with temporary crises, but with structural challenges”, and “our response must be equally structural and ambitious. Speaking of the Parliament’s position, she said: “We are not asking for ‘more money’. We are asking for resources that match the responsibilities assigned to the EU”.

Everyone agrees, noted Tavares, that Europe needs a stronger budget to deliver on priorities such as competitiveness, energy independence, security, climate, education and health, while some in the Council are calling for a smaller budget and rejecting new own resources. “That is wanting a first-class Europe with a second-class budget! This is not ambition; it is a contradiction! And it will end up harming Europeans,” she warned. The “choice is not between a cheap Europe and an expensive Europe”, but “between an underfunded Europe, lurching from crisis to crisis, and a properly funded Europe, able to anticipate challenges, invest in people and businesses, and shape its own future,” she concluded.

Speakers from most political groups reaffirmed Parliament’s position, which was adopted in April 2026. MEPs want a strong, realistic EU budget that is future-oriented and matches the level of EU’s ambitions and introduces new revenue streams. They insisted on a budget that brings benefits to citizens, reduces inequalities and guarantees adequate resources for key policies including agriculture, regional, cohesion and social funding. Members also expressed their concerns about how the EU budget is spent and stressed the need for increasing transparency and accountability.

Thomas Byrne, Irish Minister for European Affairs, confirmed that the Irish EU presidency will put forward the Council’s draft negotiating position on Saturday. “Our aim is to take negotiations one step closer to agreement,” he said, adding that “finding a balance entails difficult decisions”.

Piotr Serafin, Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, highlighted that “some capitals are continuing to look at the EU budget in the way accountants look at balance sheets: how much do I put in; and how much do I get out. This approach was misguided in the past, but with our modern budget it is entirely flawed,” Serafin said. The EU budget addresses common challenges that cannot be addressed by a single member state alone, or would likely be much more costly if they tried alone, in isolation, he noted.

In its position, Parliament called for an increase of around 10% compared to the Commission’s July 2025 proposal, to support key priorities such as defence and security, competitiveness, cohesion and agriculture. MEPs also proposed new revenue sources for the common budget, to ease the pressure on EU member state contributions, including a digital services levy, an online gambling levy, an extension of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), and a levy on crypto-asset capital gains.

Background

While Parliament has adopted its position on the next seven-year budget, member states are currently negotiating their common position. The Cyprus Council presidency’s draft negotiating position proposed a 2% cut compared to the Commission’s proposal. The Irish Council presidency’s “negotiating box” is expected to be unveiled on Saturday 10 October. For the EU’s long-term budget to be adopted, a unanimous decision in Council and Parliament’s consent, by an absolute majority of MEPs, is required. More than 93% of the EU budget goes directly into EU programmes that support people and projects across member states, and less than 7% is spent on administration.