Multiannual financial framework 2028-2034

Rapporteurs

• Dominika BIEGON (Workers - GR II/Germany)
• Konstantinos DIAMANTOUROS (Employers - GR I/Greece)
• Luca JAHIER (Civil Society Organisations - GR III/Italy

Key points

The EESC:

• warns that the Commission’s proposed marginal increase in the volume of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is inadequate and stresses the need for a substantial increase in real resources;
• welcomes the Commission’s proposal for new EU own resources but calls for greater ambition to ensure a more effective budget, stressing that revenues should be linked to EU policies;
• strongly opposes the proposed reduction of cohesion policy and common agricultural policy (CAP) funding in the next MFF;
• also opposes the plan to merge resources for cohesion policy, ESF+, CAP, fisheries, migration and security into a single fund;
• stresses that all stakeholders must be effectively involved at every level of decision-making on the allocation of resources, strategic priorities, programmes, indicators and evaluation. In cases in which governments fail to involve stakeholders effectively, adequate safeguards and conditionalities must be implemented to improve participation;
• opposes any form of macroeconomic conditionality in the national and regional partnership plans (NRPPs). The disbursement of EU funds must not be linked to unrelated structural reform proposals;
• stresses that the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the Just Transition Fund should remain stand-alone instruments in the next MFF with increased funding;
• stresses that adequate funding for civil society and media programmes (AgoraEU, CERV) is essential democratic infrastructure, not optional expenditure;
• welcomes the strong competitiveness dimension in the next MFF, emphasising the central role of research and innovation for sustainable internal growth, strategic autonomy, water resilience and the green and digital transitions, and therefore supports the creation of a European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) and the reinforcement of Horizon Europe with higher allocations;
• calls for EU funding under the ‘multifund regulation’ to be conditional on social criteria to be developed together with national social partners. Regarding the ECF, the EESC proposes further incentives for companies to invest in qualification and training of their workforce or to invest in high-unemployment or industrial transition regions;
• welcomes the increased budget for Global Europe as crucial to strengthening the huge potential of EU external action. 

Practical information

The EU Youth Test at the EESC  was applied to this opinion. The European Students’ Union (ESU) was chosen by a group of interested youth organisations to represent all of them during the opinion-making process.

Contribution to Open Access Government magazine - Ms Calistru article in the April 2026 edition 

National Economic and Social Councils and the MFF