That EU wants to spend more money on defense and border security next year while reducing the overall budget. Negotiators from the EU Parliament and member states agreed that a total of around 190 billion euros could be planned for the 2026 budget. Both institutions announced this.
According to information from EU countries, planned spending on security and defense will increase by almost 200 million euros to 2.8 billion. According to this information, around 230 million euros more – and a total of more than 5 billion euros – is allocated for “migration and border management”.
The agreement still needs to be officially approved by EU countries and European Parliament confirmed, but this is considered a formality.
Germany accounts for almost a quarter
The decision is based on a proposal by the EU Commission which submitted a budget of 193.26 billion euros for the coming year in early June. According to the wishes of the Brussels authorities, the money will also be used to support Ukraine and strengthen European competitiveness.
The plan for 2026 is the sixth plan in the Multi-annual Financial Framework for the period 2021 to 2027. The general budget includes approximately 1.1 trillion euros. As the European Union’s largest net contributor, Germany accounts for almost a quarter of the fund. The federal government essentially emphasizes that Germany benefits more from the EU’s internal market than other European countries.
Multi-year plan for discussion
A new multi-year budget from 2028 to 2034 is currently being debated in Brussels. According to the EU Commission’s wishes, the fund should amount to around 2 trillion euros, around 700 billion euros more than currently budgeted for the current budget period – the authority has received clear objections from Germany.
There was also widespread opposition to the Commission’s plans in the EU Parliament. While there are currently several platforms for a common EU agricultural policy and for structural support in less developed regions, the Commission wants there to be only one major fund for this in the future.
