Divergent views on the future European budget
The EU budget proposal for 2028-2034, presented by the European Commission, has sparked discontent in the European Parliament, which is threatening not to vote for it
Sorin Iordan, 17.07.2025, 14:00
On Wednesday, the European Commission presented the draft budget of the European Union for the future multiannual financial framework 2028-2034. The budget is approximately €800 billion higher and will amount to €2 trillion. The draft prepared by the EU executive provides, among other things, for the merging of several policies and funds, such as agriculture, rural development, cohesion, social policies, fisheries, food security, defence, migration and border management, transport infrastructure, and energy. One chapter is dedicated to the enlargement of the EU bloc, but also to support for Ukraine, which will amount to €100 billion.
The proposed draft reflects the Commission’s ambition to remain loyal to European farmers, regions, and Member States, as well as to the European social model, said Piotr Serafin, European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud, and Public Administration. However, he stressed the need to focus resources on areas where the EU can make a difference. Piotr Serafin:
“Investing together in defence, we can get our security stronger. If we, for example, want to have a European alternative to Starlink, we have do it together, and the European budget should support it. If we want to be effective when it comes to the migration policy, we have to protect external borders together rather than introducing internal border controls. If we want to be more effective in research, a joint effort and massive costs are needed. And if we want to continue the green transition, we must help European citizens and companies to adapt. But we must be realistic. We will not be able to solve all these problems, but we can try and help Member States, regions, and communities to address them.”
The Commission’s proposed budget “is not enough” to meet the challenges facing the EU, warn the European Parliament’s co-rapporteurs for the Multiannual Financial Framework and own resources. Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan, chief negotiator for the European Parliament on the 2028–2034 budget, said that the draft budget does not leave enough funds for critical priorities and that key programs will be at risk. Siegfried Mureșan:
“The European Commission is doing too little. In the past, we had a clearly defined common agricultural policy and cohesion policy, with predictable seven-year budgets. We, the European Parliament, are asking for the same thing in the future. Farmers need to know exactly how much European funding they will receive, in which areas and under what conditions over the next seven years. The Commission says, ‘We’ll set aside a small portion of the money and see about the rest later’. That doesn’t give farmers any predictability. Farmers need to invest over several years; they need to be able to make their business plans.”
Mureşan warned that the European Parliament will reject any budget that does not guarantee the protection of allocations dedicated to both the Common Agricultural Policy and the Cohesion Policy, or in which European farmers have to compete with regions for the same European funds. The debates, which could last up to two years, will now take place between the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Parliament. As a legislative and budgetary institution, the European Parliament has the right to reject the draft budget if it considers it inadequate to European priorities and needs. (MI)
