The start of 2025 has been marked by the intensifying work on the EU’s next multiannual budget. On 12 February 2025, the European Commission published a Communication on “The Road to the next Multiannual Financial Framework”. The policy document outlines key policy and budgetary challenges shaping the design of the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028-2034. Stakeholders anticipate tough budgetary negotiations due to the rise of defence and security spending in response to the rapidly shifting geopolitical context. The document sets the scene for different sectors and explores ways to adapt the EU's long-term budget to the evolving needs and priorities.  

In parallel, the Commission launched a public consultation inviting stakeholder organisations and citizens to have their say on the future EU budget and the policies it should support. Running until 6 May 2025 (midnight Brussels time), the consultation is structured in seven areas, each with a related online questionnaire. Of these, two seem particularly relevant for the future of the education, research and innovation programmes at EU level, namely: EU funding for cross-border education, training and solidarity, youth, media, culture, and creative sectors, values, and civil society and EU funding for competitiveness, with other areas bearing partial relevance as well. 

It is being stressed that this way of clustering the consultation areas serves to guide the Commission’s preparatory work on the next budget, and “does not pre-empt the architecture of future programmes”. However, key stakeholder organisations such as The Guild, LERU or YERUN (the latter two through an open letter addressed to the President of the European Commission – Ursula Von Der Leyen) already reacted against the potential inclusion of the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10) under an umbrella of the future European Competitiveness Fund. They also called for keeping FP10 as a separate, stand-alone, bottom-up and innovation-driven programme encompassing all areas with societal relevance going beyond those linked to competitiveness.   

As part of the budget consultations, a citizens' panel will gather 150 representatives to debate and make concrete recommendations. Last but not least, Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, Piotr Serafin, will undertake a Tour d'Europe throughout 2025 to engage in one-to-one consultations with member states, regional stakeholders, and EU budget beneficiaries. 

The Commission is expected to present its formal proposal for the next MFF in July 2025, which should be (shortly) followed by the regulations and first proposals for the sectoral programmes, including FP10 and the next Erasmus+ programme. 

On 18 February 2025, the Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) hosted the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes stakeholders’ conference, to discuss preparations for the post-2027 programming period. The event was opened by the Director General Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, the Executive Vice President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Roxana Mînzatu, and the Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef. The latter firmly reassured the education sector of their joint commitment to build on the many achievements of the Erasmus+ programme and develop an even stronger programme (i.e. equipped with more money, while being more inclusive, and bolder). In budgetary terms, they stressed aiming for a bigger, but also simpler, more impactful and more focused budget, inviting the representatives at the event to “help build, with bold ideas, the strength that Erasmus+ really needs”.  

The stakeholders’ views, spanning across all levels of education, including higher education, were collected via two rounds of five parallel workshops. The first round covered the topics: Skills and competitiveness; Inclusion and outreach to a wider audience; Participation, citizenship, EU values, preparedness; Green and digital transition; and Simplification and coherence. The second round focused on: Mobility opportunities; Cooperation opportunities; Volunteering opportunities; Policy support, impact and scaling up of results; International dimension, enlargement.  

Multiple overarching and more technical ideas came from all sectors based on prior experience, so it remains to be seen what proposals and how they will find their way in the Commission’ s proposal for the next Erasmus+ programme, formally expected this summer.