The European Commission proposed on Wednesday, July 16, a long-term budget boosted to €2 trillion as the European Union confronts complex challenges from overseas competition to Russian aggression at its borders. The proposal is to kickstart two years of tense negotiations with the EU's 27 member states and lawmakers in Brussels.
EU Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin unveiled a funding plan for 2028-2034 that aims to foster the bloc's economic competitiveness, support Ukraine and satisfy traditional beneficiaries of European money, such as farmers. Serafin said that under the commission's plans, €300 billion will be ringfenced to support farmers, who have been worried about potential cuts to their slice of the pie.
A competitiveness fund bringing together EU investment efforts in clean tech, digital, biotech, defense, space and food will amount to €451 billion, he said at the European Parliament. "The next MFF will be the most ambitious ever proposed. It is more strategic, more flexible, more transparent," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, using the bloc's acronym for the budget.
The European Commission also proposed establishing a fund of up to €100 billion to support war-torn Ukraine. "This is a long-term commitment to Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction," Serafin said.
And as Europe pushes to re-arm, the amounts dedicated to defence and space will increase fivefold to €131 billion. Similarly, the sums dedicated to military mobility under a separate pot dedicated to investment in infrastructure will go up tenfold, he said.
The previous 2021-2027 budget was worth around €1.2 trillion