On 28 April, the European Parliament adopted its position for negotiations with member states on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028–2034, setting out both the overall budget level and key spending priorities. 

Building on the Budgets Committee’s interim report by co-rapporteurs Carla Tavares (S&D, PT) and Siegfried Muresan (EPP, RO), MEPs propose an increase of approx. 10% compared to the European Commission’s July 2025 proposal. This would bring the total EU budget to EUR 1.78 trillion (2025 constant prices), or EUR 2.01 trillion in current prices. The proposed increase is distributed evenly across the main policy (excluding administration and agencies), aiming to both reinforce EU priorities and mitigate inflationary pressures. 

• A positive signal for the higher education sector is the proposed increase for Erasmus+, which would receive an additional EUR 6.56 billion, bringing the programme’s total budget to EUR 47.39 billion (in current prices).  
• The proposal also foresees a substantial increase for Global Europe, the EU’s external action instrument, which would receive an additional EUR 24.06 billion and reach EUR 239.26 billion in current prices. While this underlines the EU’s ambition to strengthen its global engagement, MEPs stress that further investment is needed—particularly for enlargement, development cooperation, support to Ukraine, multilateral partnerships, and humanitarian aid.  
• Horizon Europe is also reinforced, with its proposed budget rising to EUR 200 billion (current prices), confirming its central role in the EU’s long-term competitiveness agenda. 

While the proposed increases are necessary and welcome, several higher education stakeholders caution that—even if confirmed through trilogue negotiations—they would, in the case of Erasmus+, largely sustain activities at 2027 levels, leaving limited scope for meaningful expansion or new initiatives. For Horizon Europe, stakeholders argue that the proposed budget remains insufficient to underpin the EU’s long-term competitiveness in key strategic domains—such as AI, deep tech, health, biotechnology, and advanced materials—particularly when compared to the scale of investments made by global competitors. 

Compiled based on Budgets Committee’s interim report