On 11 June 2026, the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the Europan Union released a so-called “negotiating box” for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028–2034. This first version of the Council's negotiating text includes concrete figures for each heading of the EU budget, issued after five months of consultations with member states. The text reduces the Erasmus+ budget proposal to EUR 39.1 billion, i.e. below the EUR 40.8 billion put forward by the European Commission, and well short of the EUR 47.39 billion proposed by the European Parliament's CULT Committee (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, June 2026). 

The negotiating box proposes an overall reduction of the MFF by 2% (EUR 32.8 billion) compared to the Commission's original proposal. The cut is applied across all headings, though not uniformly. Heading 1 (covering national allocations and cohesion policy) faces the smallest reduction, while headings 2 and 3, which include education, research, competitiveness, defence, and external action, are subject to a 3.9% horizontal cut.  

The proposed Erasmus+ figure has drawn strong reactions from the higher education sector organisations, that have been unanimously calling for a much higher allocation of EUR 60 billion, as the necessary minimum to deliver the same level of programme activities as in 2027 and also be able to accommodate the policy novelties, contributiong to the skills and competitiveness agendas.  

At the European Council summit of 18 – 19 June 2026 in Brussels, EU heads of state and government held their first discussion on the MFF negotiating box proposed by the Cypriot Presidency. Sixteen Southern and Eastern member states formed a coalition jointly committing to protect cohesion and agricultural funding in the new budget ahead of the high-level meeting. The summit discussions therefore centred on balancing these traditional priorities against new ones, including defence, security, enlargement, and competitiveness. The European Council entrusted the Irish Presidency, kicking off on 1 July 2026, with continuing negotiations on the next MFF budget, before the next European Council meeting, scheduled in mid-October 2026.  

In the days preceeding and following the summit, the Council released updates on several other strands of the wider MFF package, relevant to the future shape of EU support for higher education and research: 

1. On 16 June 2026, the Council also adopted its partial position on the new European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), refencing synergies with other EU funds – including Horizon Europe – and including specific measures to support SMEs, while strengthening the role of member states in the fund's governance.  
2. On the same day, the Council agreed its partial general agreement (PGA) on the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPP), backing the creation of an NRPP fund to streamline EU funding under a single national plan. The agreed position strives to increase flexibility for member states, strengthen the role of regions and local authorities, simplify implementation procedures, and ensure continuity for agriculture and fisheries funding, while preserving links between reforms, investments and EU funding.  
3. Also on 16 June, the Council agreed a partial mandate on Global Europe, introducing changes intended to keep the instrument flexible and effective, giving member states a stronger role than in the past in setting strategic priorities and overseeing implementation, and placing greater emphasis on enlargement, the European neighbourhood, and the instrument's capacity to respond to migration and other emerging challenges. 
4. On 26 June 2026, the Council reached a partial general agreement also on Horizon Europe, strengthening member states' involvement in the programme's strategic priority-setting and clarifying its links with the ECF. The agreed position also introduces additional assurances related to European Partnerships, research security, and support for innovation, including for dual-use and defence applications, while striving to reinforce horizontal principles such as gender equality, simplification for beneficiaries, and broad, diversified collaboration across the Union.  
5. On the same day, the Council also agreed its partial position on the proposed performance framework regulation, striving to streamline reporting and evaluation of EU spending across programmes through common performance principles and indicators, joint reporting requirements, a single online funding gateway, and reinforced oversight of horisontal objectives such as the "do no significant harm" principle. 

As in case of the Council's earlier position on Erasmus+, each of these partial general agreements/mandates excludes the horizontal and financial questions that remain under negotiation as part of the broader MFF package. However, the PGAs enable the Council to begin technical negotiations with the European Parliament on the respective sectoral regulations. With the Irish Presidency taking over the steering of the overall budget negotiations, the coming months will show how these parallel sectoral discussions interact with the still-unresolved question of the EU's next long-term budget figures.