28 April 2026 15:48 UTC · European Commission · EU Commission Press Release · Source · Email X Link

European Commission says timely MFF 2028-2034 agreement essential

Key points

European Commission says timely agreement on MFF 2028-2034 is essential
European Commission says new own resources are required to finance ambitions

TL;DR

European Commission says a timely agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034 is essential given war in Europe, conflict in the Middle East, spikes in energy prices and trade tensions.
The Commission says the MFF provides predictability but must include flexibility, and the proposal already builds in such flexibility.
The Commission notes the proposed budget increases spending on competitiveness, security, external border protection (fourfold), research and innovation, while preserving cohesion and CAP, and raises overall spending from 1.13% to 1.26% of GNI.
The Commission says Member States face significant fiscal pressure and calls for new own resources to finance the ambition; it proposes National and Regional Partnership Plans to allow flexible use of limited resources.
The Commission says it stands ready to act as an honest broker, urges Parliament to support the rapporteurs' report (Siegfried Mureșan and Carla Tavares) and emphasizes European unity.

Original text

European Commission - Speech Remarks by Commissioner Serafin at European Parliament Plenary debate on the interim report on the proposal for the MFF 2028-2034 Strasbourg, 28 April 2026 Honourable Members, I would like to thank both rapporteurs – Mme Tavares and Mr Mure ș an – for their important and timely work. And I would like to stress the word timely. Because the urgency to reach an agreement still in 2026 could not be more obvious. We only need to look at the world around us. We have a war on our continent and in the Middle East, spikes in energy prices and trade tensions. We should not expect the years ahead of us to be easier. On the contrary. This is why a timely agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework is more important than ever. It is, by design, the MFF is by design an anchor of predictability – it provides certainty in an uncertain world. But precisely because the world around us is becoming more unstable, we also need to build in a degree of flexibility. This flexibility was built into the Commission proposal – I can only hope that it will be also in the result of the negotiations. And we will continue to explain the importance of flexibility in the months to come. Honourable Members, The Commission has proposed a budget that reflects the scale of our common challenges. We want to invest more in competitiveness, security, and our global role, while preserving strong support for long-standing policies like cohesion and CAP. This House agrees with this ambition, and I see this reflected in your report also when it comes to the distribution of the increases you are requesting. But we must also be honest: we cannot afford everything. Member States are under significant fiscal pressure. This inevitably means that we have to make choices, and we have to finance those choices responsibly. So the key question is how to match the ambition with resources. The only viable route towards an ambitious budget goes through the adoption of new own resources. I count on the Parliament's continued support here. Our proposal for National and Regional Partnership Plans also is in this logic of flexibility that I have just outlined. The NRRPs are not about weakening cohesion or CAP or social objectives — on the contrary. They are about giving Member States and regions the possibility to use the limited resources in the best possible way. Honorable Members Let me be clear; my role is to build bridges. The Commission stands ready to act as an honest broker, to work with this House and with the Council to find a common ground and a timely agreement. Because this is more than ever the time for European unity. Thank you. CLOSING REMARKS Thank you, Mr President, Honourable Members. That was indeed a rich debate. At the end, I would like to express hope that today when the vote is taking place, you will demonstrate the unity, and you will support the report of Siegfried Mure ș an and Carla Tavares. Even if, as you know, we do not see eye to eye on each and every topic. Even if, as you know, we can expect that the approach of the Council, in particular in the context of a size of a budget will be a different one, but it's important that you will have your position on time supported by the strong majority – that will be an argument in the incoming negotiations. And the debate also demonstrated that while talking about the MFF, we also would need to talk about the nature of the European Union and the way in which the European Union should react to what is going on around us. I believe and I am absolutely convinced about it that the Europeans want to see not only more unity, but that they are aware that either we will hang out together or we will be hanged separately. They want stronger a European Union, investing into common projects, and that is exactly why we have the European Union budget in place. I think I can count on you when it comes to increases in the EU budget, which overall did not really increase dramatically – the European Commission proposed to increase the level of spending from 1.13% GNI to 1.26% of GNI. But there are areas where the increases are much bigger. A week ago, I was on the border between Poland and Germany, and I saw internal border controls. In our MFF we propose to increase by a factor of 4 level of spending on the protection of the external border. Some might say "it's a lot", but I'm pretty sure that is still much cheaper than introducing internal controls within the Single Market. And I can say the same about security and defence. I can say exactly the same about research and innovation. If we spend money together, we actually can have more security, better protection of our borders, better innovation and more research for the same money. So, indeed, we live in times where every eurocent counts, and the honest debate should be at which level that eurocents should be spent and what is the best way to achieve value added for Europeans. Thank you very much. SPEECH/26/922 Press contacts: Balazs UJVARI (+32 2 29 54578) Isabel OTERO BARDERAS (+32 2 29 66925) General public inquiries: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 67 89 10 11 or by email

European Commission says timely MFF 2028-2034 agreement essential

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