Stable funding for established priorities in the Annual Budget for 2027
The European Commission has proposed today to set the 2027 annual EU budget at €200 billion (in commitments).
The Draft Budget also reflects the outcome of the mid-term review of the 2021-2027 Cohesion policy. Member States are incentivised to use these resources towards the Union’s new priorities in the areas of competitiveness, defence, affordable housing, water resilience, and energy transition, by providing the opportunity for one-off pre-financing and higher EU co-financing for these priorities.
The Draft Budget for 2027 comes after a series of critical developments over the past years, including a global pandemic, an energy crisis and rising inflation, the return of war on the European continent, as well as growing geopolitical tensions. Again, over the last months, the crisis in the Middle East has affected a wide range of economic sectors, due to increased energy prices which have led to a more volatile outlook for economic growth and inflation in Europe.
Next year’s budget will continue to provide crucial funding for established EU political priorities, including major support for Ukraine through the Ukraine Facility and the new Ukraine Support Loan.
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has underlined the need for major investments in security and defence in the Member States to build a more secure future for Europe. Next year’s budget reflects the Union’s growing role in strengthening Europe’s security and defence preparedness, as well as supporting investments in defence research, industrial capacity, military mobility, and strategic resilience. It contributes to the implementation of the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 and is complemented by the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument, which supports joint defence procurement and investment by Member States.
Economic security, and a strong and competitive economy, are at the core of the Union’s priorities. Therefore, the Draft Budget 2027 includes increased funding for flagship programmes – such as Erasmus+, the Connecting Europe Facility, and the Single Market Programme– while continuing to provide support to agriculture, not only to safeguard the Union’s food security but also to promote economic stability and the development of rural areas.
Additional funding will be made available to the Member States in the first full year of implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, through top-ups from the MFF mid-term revision (+ € 1,2 billion in 2027) for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), and the Border Management and Visa Instrument.
The full overview of the Commission proposal for the Draft Annual Budget can be found in the ‘Questions and answers’ document.
Next steps
The annual budget for 2027 will have to be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council before the end of 2026.
Background
The Draft EU budget for 2027 includes the expenditure covered by the appropriations under the long-term budget ceilings, financed from own resources. Two amounts for each programme are proposed in the Draft Budget – commitments and payments. “Commitments” refer to the funding that can be agreed in contracts in a given year, and “payments” to the money actually paid out. All amounts are in current prices.
The Draft EU Budget for 2027 is the last one under the current Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). It will ensure financing for important EU programmes, in the run-up to the next long-term budget adoption, the MFF 2028-2034.
