European Parliament members have backed a call for the EU’s next seven-year budget to be set at 1.27% of the bloc’s gross national income, with the cost of repaying the NextGenerationEU recovery fund kept outside the spending caps.
MEPs adopted an interim report setting out their position for talks with member states on the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) — the EU’s long-term budget — by 370 votes to 201, with 84 abstentions, the parliamentary press service reported on Tuesday.
The Parliament’s proposal amounts to around a 10% increase compared with the European Commission’s July 2025 plan, and would be spread across the three main spending headings supporting EU priorities, excluding administration and agencies.
In cash terms, Parliament proposed a budget of €2.01 trillion in current prices, or €1.78 trillion in 2025 prices, excluding the repayment of NextGenerationEU debt.
MEPs said the EU budget should keep distinct allocations for established programmes, including the common agricultural policy, cohesion policy and the European Social Fund, and argued that regional and local authorities should be fully involved in planning and delivering programmes.
New priorities, and new revenue proposals
MEPs supported increasing funding for areas including competitiveness, defence, innovation, the digital and green transitions, infrastructure, health, education and culture, the Parliament said.
They also called for more money for external action than the Commission has proposed, including funding linked to enlargement, development, support for Ukraine, multilateral cooperation and humanitarian aid.
The report warned that efforts to simplify how money is spent should not reduce transparency, accountability or democratic oversight, and said respect for EU values and the rule of law should remain a condition for accessing EU funds, while avoiding penalising final recipients for breaches by governments.
On revenue, MEPs backed creating new “own resources” — EU-level income streams — to help repay NextGenerationEU debt and fund the budget, and said new sources should raise around €60 billion a year.
If some options are dropped, the report suggested alternatives including a digital services levy, an online gambling levy, extending the carbon border adjustment mechanism (a charge on certain imports based on their carbon emissions), or a levy on crypto-asset capital gains.
Co-rapporteur Siegfried Mureşan said the Parliament had adopted “a strong position on the next budget”, while co-rapporteur Carla Tavares cited the common agricultural policy, cohesion funds, Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ among programmes MEPs want to protect.
Negotiations can begin once member states agree a common position, and the MFF regulation requires the Parliament’s consent for approval.
