At its most recent plenary session, the European Parliament adopted its position on the European Union’s future multiannual budget for 2028–2034. Europe faces enormous challenges today: from security and economic competitiveness to the energy transition and support for Ukraine. That is why the new EU budget must be more ambitious and resilient to crises.
The European Parliament opposes the European Commission’s proposals, which could lead to a weakening of traditional EU policies and excessive centralization of fund management. We reject the “one national plan” model, modelled after the National Recovery Plan (KPO), noting that it threatens to renationalize the EU budget and limit the role of regions and local governments.
One of Parliament’s key demands is to maintain cohesion policy as a separate EU policy, managed in cooperation with regions and local authorities. We emphasize that cohesion funds should continue to serve the purpose of reducing development disparities and supporting local investments, rather than being used solely as a crisis response tool.
Parliament has also clearly spoken out in favor of maintaining the European Social Fund (ESF) as a separate financial instrument. According to MEPs, funding for employment, education, skills development, and the fight against poverty must remain adequately secured in the new EU budget.
The European Parliament supports increased investment in security, defense, new technologies, and scientific research, while emphasizing that funding for these new priorities must not come at the expense of cohesion policy or social programs. The Parliament also advocates for maintaining strong support for agriculture and food security.
The European Commission’s proposal is insufficient given the scale of the challenges facing the Union. Therefore, Parliament is calling for a larger EU budget and new sources of own revenue, so that repayment of the NextGenerationEU fund does not limit funding for key European policies.