On 9 July, Council reached an agreement on its position on the 2026 EU draft budget. In total, the Council's position for next year's budget amounts to EUR 186.24 billion in commitments and EUR 186.49 billion in payments, not including appropriations foreseen for special instruments outside the multiannual financial framework (MFF). The Council proposal is ca. EUR 7 billion less than the European Commission’s original proposal of EUR 193.26 billion (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, June 2025).  

The Council referred to “a prudent and realistic approach”, based on several overarching principles highlighting the importance of: 

• Ensuring that the budget for 2026 stands at an appropriate level for the implementation of policies and programmes. 
• Safeguarding the EU’s ability to cope with ongoing crises and challenges, such as in Ukraine and the Middle East, strengthening Europe’s defence readiness and preparedness, as well as addressing migratory pressures in line with the MFF revision priorities. 
• Allowing for sufficient margins under the MFF 2021-2027 ceilings to deal with unforeseen crises and unforeseen circumstances. 

When it comes to the budget of specific programmes with relevance to higher education, Council proposal for Erasmus+ is EUR 4.016,6 million (commitments), which is EUR 257,7 million less the European Commission’s proposal. In particular, the proposed cuts are applied to all three key actions in the field of education and training (- EUR 232 million), youth (- EUR 20 million) and sports (- EUR 3 million).   

Council proposal for Horizon Europe amounts to EUR 12.762,3 million (commitments), which is EUR 211 million less than the European Commission’s proposal. 

Following the agreement reached between the ambassadors of member states to the EU (Coreper), the Council aims to formally adopt its position through a written procedure in September. The Council’s position will serve as a mandate for the Danish presidency of the Council to negotiate the 2026 EU budget with the European Parliament. The legal deadline for reaching agreement on the annual budget is 17 November 2025.