EU budget talks continue as Commission defends 2028-2034 plan

The European Commission is continuing to defend its proposal for the next European Union multiannual financial framework for 2028 to 2034, with Commissioner Serafin telling the European Parliament on 7 October that the draft budget is meant to reflect today’s pressures and preserve room to respond to future uncertainty.

Serafin said the Commission’s plan was designed around competitiveness, defence and security, while also supporting long-standing treaty-based policies that, in the Commission’s view, contribute to competitiveness and security as well. He said the budget had been put forward more than a year ago.

He also said the proposal is financed to a substantial extent through new own resources, and thanked the European Parliament for supporting that approach and pushing for new options. In his remarks, he described the package as a modern budget and said the Commission had focused on challenges that a single member state often cannot address alone.

The commissioner said some capitals still look at the EU budget through a juste retour logic, meaning how much each pays in and gets back out, but argued that this is the wrong way to view the Union budget. He said the budget is intended to address common challenges together, which he said can be cheaper and more efficient than each member state trying to handle them alone.

Serafin said the European Union has become an anchor of stability in turbulent times and called for a timely agreement on the budget to preserve stability and predictability for citizens. He added that the ball is now in the court of the co-legislators, and said the Commission will continue to accompany the process, assist the Irish Presidency in preparing the negobox, and defend its proposal because it believes it offers value for money.