European Council President Antonio Costa said the EU must agree its next long-term budget for 2028 – 2034 by the end of 2026 to avoid disruptions to funding.
Costa said the EU was operating in a “fundamentally different geopolitical environment” from when the current budget was approved in 2020, requiring “a new structure and a new way of allocating” resources, according to a statement after his meeting with Slovenia’s Prime Minister Janez Janša in Ljubljana.
The next budget should reflect priorities set by EU leaders, including competitiveness, defence, security and resilience, while preserving agricultural and cohesion policies, which fund farming support and investment to reduce regional economic gaps across the bloc, he said.
Costa warned that delays could lead to interruptions in funding, including farmers waiting for payments, businesses going without contracts, students without grants and laboratories lacking funds to operate.
Funding and enlargement
Costa set out a timetable of agreeing the budget in 2026, legislating and preparing in 2027, and beginning funding on 1 January 2028.
He added that most of the EU budget is financed through national contributions from member states, which should be kept “within reasonable limits”, and said new “own resources” — EU-level revenue streams — would be “a crucial element” in reducing national contributions while supporting investment.
Costa also discussed EU enlargement with Janša, saying the process had moved forward this year, with Montenegro’s accession treaty now being drafted and Albania entering the next phase of its accession process.
He thanked Slovenia for supporting enlargement in the Western Balkans as well as Moldova and Ukraine, and said work with candidate countries would continue through a “merit-based” process.
