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Article by Annalisa Cangemi – Journalist, Fanpage.it

The European Commission has presented its budget proposal for the 2028-2034 period, amounting to €2 trillion, a significant increase over the previous period, emphasized EU Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin. The multiannual budget is equal to 1.26% of the EU countries' total gross national product, up from 1.1% under the current financial framework. The previous budget, from 2021 to 2027, amounted to €1.2 trillion, but was supplemented by an €800 billion recovery plan during the COVID crisis.

The meeting in Brussels began significantly later than scheduled (it was originally scheduled for 12:30 p.m.) due to lengthy negotiations within the Commission, particularly on proposals regarding the new structure of the EU budget, with a single centralized fund for each country combining the funds of the Common Agricultural Policy and Cohesion Policy, and the five new "own resources," new sources of revenue totaling €58.2 billion. These include, in particular, new European "taxes" on tobacco, electronic waste, corporate profits, and emissions (ETS), plus a portion of the "climate border duties."

According to Serafin, with the five new "own resources," tobacco levies could generate an average of €11.2 billion per year, e-waste levies €15.2 billion, corporate profits levies €6.8 billion, while contributions from the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) would amount to €9.6 billion per year, and those from climate duties under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBM) would amount to €1.4 billion.

New €865 billion national-regional fund

The new multiannual budget proposed by the Commission reduces the current seven main budget headings (including the administrative expenditure chapter) to four, merging in particular the funds for the Common Agricultural Policy and those for Cohesion and Regional Development into a single heading, that of "National and Regional Partnership Plans", which, Serafin said, "will bring together reforms and investments within a single coordinated framework".

According to the Commission's proposal, the budget dedicated to "National and Regional Partnership Plans" for the entire 2028-2034 period will amount to €865 billion, of which €302 billion will be for the Common Agricultural Policy and the Fisheries Policy, and €218 billion for Cohesion Policy for less developed regions. The Fund will also include resources for migrant management, border management, and internal security.

Fourteen percent of the total budget for the partnership plans will be allocated to social objectives, European Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin announced. It was also announced that funding for home affairs and security policies (managing irregular immigration and borders, cross-border cooperation, and fighting terrorism and organized crime) will be tripled.

"At the heart of the first pillar of the budget are the national and regional partnership plans, with €865 billion. They are the basis for investments and reforms," ​​said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, presenting the new multiannual budget for 2028-2034 at a press conference. "Agriculture and cohesion remain at the heart of these national and regional partnership plans. They are the central pillars of European solidarity and investment in the European model; we are safeguarding €300 billion in income support for farmers," she added.

The Competitiveness Fund

Another key component of the new multiannual budget, also resulting from a merger, is the new €410 billion European Competitiveness Fund (€451 billion including the Innovation Fund), which will focus on four areas: resilience and security, defense industry, and space, including €131 billion in defense funding, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called "five times what we have today" in defense funding; clean transition and industrial decarbonization (€67.4 billion); digital leadership (€54.8 billion); and health, biotechnology, agriculture, and the bioeconomy (€22.6 billion).

"This fund will double Horizon Europe, already a major international program and the world's best-known for science and research," von der Leyen explained. "We will quintuple investments in digital technology to build a safe and innovative ecosystem. We will provide a significant boost to clean tech, the bioeconomy, and decarbonization, with EU resources multiplied sixfold. There will also be a 35% climate and biodiversity spending target, meaning approximately €700 billion allocated to the EU's six environmental objectives."

The loans

"For the first time ever, we are also giving Member States the opportunity to invest in EU objectives with loans of up to €150 billion, guaranteed by the European Union," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference, referring to the 'Catalyst Europe' instrument. "The loans are guaranteed by the EU budget."

"Member states benefit from favorable conditions, for example by promoting specific European priorities. Think of the defense industry. Think of energy infrastructure, strategic technologies, and others. 'Catalyst Europe' will therefore provide member states with additional means to invest in these European objectives. This is the first time ever that an additional source of funding of this kind has been proposed."

100 billion for Ukraine

The EU is proposing to allocate up to €100 billion for Ukraine, outside the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), for the period 2028-2034. Piotr Serafin explained his intention as follows: "We are setting aside up to €100 billion, outside the MFF (Multiannual Financial Framework) ceilings, for Ukraine, our most strategic partner."

"This is a long-term commitment to Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction," he assured. These funds will also be used to support Ukraine on its "path to European Union membership," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

300 billion for farmers' incomes

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also announced that €300 billion will be allocated to farmers' incomes from 2028 to 2034, addressing concerns in the sector regarding the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) format. This represents a significant reduction compared to the €386 billion allocated for the 2021-2027 period.

In the long-term EU budget, resources dedicated to supporting farmers' incomes and crisis management amount to at least €300 billion. This earmarked budget represents 80% of the current budget, said Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen, presenting the post-2027 CAP proposal to the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee (Agri).

For Coldiretti, CAP cuts are a disaster waiting to happen.

"A 20% cut in CAP resources is a disaster waiting to happen," commented Coldiretti President Ettore Prandini and Secretary General Vincenzo Gesmundo, regarding the reduction in Common Agricultural Policy resources, resulting in the consolidation of rural development resources into a single fund. This decision was protested by young Coldiretti farmers in central Brussels and Rome, holding signs and large banners depicting the Commission President juggling the stars, the symbol of the Union, and the slogans "Welcome to Vonderland" and "This is not Europe."

"President von der Leyen's political line, which imposed draconian cuts on the commissioners, has won," Prandini and Gesmundo attack. "The words of Agriculture Commissioner Hansen, who claims to have saved 80% of the CAP budget, are particularly embarrassing. It would have been more dignified to resign, admitting a resounding defeat with a cut of one-fifth of the previous resources, which he also voted for, ensuring unanimity."

"The League has presented a motion in the Senate to block the EU Commission's multiannual budget proposal. The proposal to create a single fund, including the CAP, will disempower our farmers, favoring foreign producers. The Commission's approach once again demonstrates disinterest in the agricultural sector, which would lose the efficient management of funding provided by the Common Agricultural Policy. The League will fight in every forum against Ursula's cuts and, instead, will demand more resources to reward the productivity and work of our farmers, guardians of the environment and the land, and less bureaucracy," said Senator Giorgio Maria Bergesio, head of the League's Agriculture Department.

The Five Star Movement is also critical: "The news coming in regarding the new Common Agricultural Policy announced by Ursula von der Leyen is simply dramatic. The President of the EU Commission spoke of €300 billion in funding, confirming rumors of massive cuts. The total figure actually drops by almost €90 billion, an indecent sum. Ursula tries to mitigate the situation by talking about doubling the reserve fund for companies in crisis, but we're talking about a few hundred million compared to almost €90 billion in cuts: ridiculous crumbs. And to further worsen an already dire scenario, the CAP as we knew it will no longer exist, because it will be incorporated into a fund that will also include cohesion, and therefore agriculture will end up competing with other strategic sectors for Europe's future. At a time when the agricultural sector is already suffering terribly and European entrepreneurs and agricultural workers – and Italians first and foremost – are struggling to survive, the new "The CAP signed by von der Leyen seems like a final coup de grace," reads a statement signed by Five Star Movement parliamentarians Alessandro Caramiello, Susanna Cherchi, Sergio Costa, Dolores Bevilacqua, Sabrina Licheri, and Gisella Naturale.

For the European Parliament the budget proposal is "insufficient"

The European Commission's proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework is "simply insufficient," the European Parliament wrote in a statement, echoing statements made by the rapporteurs for the next European budget in the MEPs, Siegfried Muresan (EPP) and Carla Tavares (S&D).

"With a budget equal to just 1.26% of gross national income (GNI), including 0.11% earmarked for Next Generation EU debt repayments, and taking inflation into account, the EU will be left behind," say the European Parliament rapporteurs. According to MEPs, the budget proposal leaves insufficient funds for key priorities, including competitiveness, cohesion, agriculture, defense, climate adaptation, and investment in a sustainable and inclusive economy.

"The proposal's starting point demonstrates a surprising lack of ambition," the European Parliament statement continues. MEPs express concern about proposals that could weaken regional and local authorities in managing funds, pitting farmers against regions or regions against national governments. "Parliament stands ready to use all its powers to ensure that the next long-term budget lives up to the Union's ambitions and challenges, and is subject to full democratic scrutiny. Parliament stands ready to engage constructively but also decisively."

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