Members of the European Parliament on the Industry, Research and Energy Committee have backed changes to a proposed European Competitiveness Fund, including a bigger budget and new support mechanisms for areas such as defence research and housing.
The committee adopted its position by 61 votes to 13, with 12 abstentions, on the fund for the 2028–2034 period, the parliamentary press service informed on Tuesday.
The proposal would pool 14 existing EU funding instruments into a single structure with four “policy windows” — broad funding strands covering different priorities.
MEPs proposed raising the fund’s overall budget to €264.35 billion in current prices, up from €234.3 billion in the European Commission proposal.
They also backed a €10.11 billion “flexibility reserve” intended to respond to unforeseen challenges.
The committee’s amendments include changes to how parts of the fund are organised, with a dedicated budget and governance structure for critical raw materials and a separate section for energy infrastructure.
Defence, housing and an expanded EU loan guarantee
MEPs also supported creating a specific programme for defence research, development and innovation, according to the European Parliament.
The committee outlined three elements: an upstream research programme, a blended-finance instrument for defence start-ups and scale-ups, and funding for collaborative applied research linked to capability priorities.
For housing and related investment, the committee proposed an InvestEU instrument supporting sustainable construction, clean tech manufacturing for housing, energy-efficient renovation, renewable and citizen energy communities, and social investments.
InvestEU is an EU programme that uses a budget-backed guarantee to help mobilise investment, often by reducing risk for lenders and investors.
The maximum guarantee for this part of the plan should be €150 billion, up from €70 billion proposed by the Commission.
The committee also voted to open negotiations with EU governments by 56 votes to 26, with four abstentions, and the position and negotiating mandate are expected to be announced for approval at the Parliament’s 23–26 November plenary session.
