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article By Andrea Scordino

The European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets has approved the new draft European Union budget for 2026. The document, voted on Monday, October 6, aims to strengthen competitiveness, support innovation, improve agricultural resilience, and strengthen European defense. Committee members approved a series of targeted increases to support European citizens and the EU’s strategic priorities. The committee outlined the European Union’s strategic priorities: the European Parliament is now expected to vote on the document during its plenary session on October 20-23.

In a key vote, MEPs decided to restore €1.3 billion in commitments, bringing them back to the levels originally proposed by the European Commission before cuts were made by member state governments. These funds have not yet been spent, but the European Union is committed to allocating them to certain objectives.

Among the main funding targets are those for Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation program, which aims to finance scientific and technological projects to strengthen European competitiveness and address future global challenges. The program will receive an additional €60 million, in line with the overall €93.5 billion funding plan for the 2021-2027 period.

One of the spending priorities also includes support for agriculture, with a particular focus on young farmers. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the EU’s key sectors for implementing the European Green Deal. The program dedicated to young farmers will receive a €23 million increase to support measures such as income support for young people working in the sector. The new funds earmarked for agriculture follow the decision on the new EU budget structure, which merges Common Agricultural Policy funds with those for Cohesion and Regional Development, which sparked protests from farmers.

Taking into account the geopolitical complexities and international instability marked by the two conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, MEPs have updated their spending priorities for defense and security investments. The military mobility plan, strategic for facilitating the movement of troops and military goods for the safety of European citizens, will be funded with €35 million. This funding follows the line already outlined by the decision of the last NATO summit to increase member states’ military spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. This spending increase more than doubles the 2% of GDP agreed in 2022.

In the context of international cooperation, the European Union will allocate €35 million to the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, aimed at revitalizing trade and political relations with partner countries in the region and strengthening the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP).

However, 2026 will also bring an unexpected increase in borrowing costs for NextGenerationEU, the post-pandemic recovery plan. The figure is expected to reach €4.3 billion, double the Commission’s estimates.

MEPs insist that these costs not be detrimental to key programs such as Erasmus+ or EU4Health and are calling for the activation of the cascade mechanism, which involves drawing on reserves or less important budget items to protect EU priorities. According to Parliament, the €300 million in liquidity management costs, caused by delays in implementing national recovery plans, must also be covered transparently, without compromising the funding of other programs.

Parliament will be working on the details of the proposal in the coming days. After the vote, negotiations will follow with the EU Council, which already adopted its position in September. The goal is to reach an agreement by the end of the year.

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