Changes from plenary report to plenary report

AddedANNEX

Removed– having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources (IIA),

AddedFINAL Budget 2026 – Elements for joint conclusions

Removed– having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2025 and the joint statements agreed between Parliament, the Council and the Commission annexed hereto,

AddedThese joint conclusions cover the following sections:

Removed– having regard to Article 349 TFEU and to Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2013 establishing specific measures for agriculture in favour of the outermost regions of the Union,

Added1. Budget 2026

Removed– having regard to the Interinstitutional Proclamation on the European Pillar of Social Rights of 13 December 2017 and to its resolution of 19 January 2017 thereon,

Added2. Budget 2025 – Draft Amending Budget No. 3/2025

Removed– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 (European Climate Law),

Added3. Statements

Removed– having regards to the UN Sustainable Development Goals,

AddedSummary overview

Removed– having regard to Enrico Letta’s report entitled ‘Much more than a market’, presented in the European Parliament on 21 October 2024,

AddedAccording to the elements for joint conclusions:

Removed– having regard to Mario Draghi’s report entitled ‘The future of European competitiveness’, presented in the European Parliament on 17 September 2024,

Added- The overall level of commitment appropriations in the 2026 budget is set at EUR 192 768,1 million. Overall, this leaves a margin below the MFF ceilings for 2026 of EUR 715,7 million in commitment appropriations.

Removed– having regard to Sauli Niinistö’s report entitled ‘Safer together - Strengthening Europe’s civilian and military preparedness and readiness’, presented in the European Parliament on 14 November 2024,

Added- The overall level of payment appropriations in the 2026 budget is set at EUR 190 091,6 million. Overall, this leaves a margin below the MFF ceiling for 2026 of EUR 20 440,1 million in payment appropriations.

Removed– having regard to the presentation of the EU Competitiveness Compass by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on 29 January 2025,

Added- The Flexibility Instrument for 2026 is mobilised in commitment appropriations for an amount of EUR 2 040,9 million, of which EUR 1,0 million for sub-heading 2a Economic, social and territorial cohesion, EUR 2 013,1 million for sub-heading 2b Resilience and Values, EUR 3,5 million for heading 5 Security and Defence, and EUR 23,3 million for heading 7 European Public Administration.

Removed– having regard to the joint white paper of 19 March 2025 for European Defence Readiness providing a framework for the ReArm Europe plan (JOIN(2025)0120),

Added- In accordance with Article 11(1) a of the MFF Regulation, the Single Margin Instrument is mobilised in commitment appropriations for an amount of EUR 748,2 million for heading 7 European Public Administration.

Removed– having regard to Protocol No 6 on the location of the seats of the institutions annexed to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

AddedThe 2026 payment appropriations related to the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument in the years 2023 to 2026 are estimated by the Commission at EUR 2 226,4 million. The estimated payment schedule of the related outstanding amounts for these years is detailed in the following table:

Removed– having regard to the 2012 Joint Statement and ‘Common Approach’ on EU Decentralised Agencies,

Added1. Budget 2026

Removed– having regard to the draft general budget of the European Union for the 2026 financial year, which the Commission published on 9 July 2025 (COM(2025)0300),

Added1.1. 'Closed' lines

Removed– having regard to the position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the 2026 financial year, which the Council adopted on 5 September 2025 and forwarded to Parliament on 12 September 2025 (11216/2025 – C10-0206/2025),

AddedUnless stated otherwise below in these conclusions, all budget lines are confirmed as proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget for 2026 as amended in Amending Letter No.1/2026.

Removed– having regard to Rule 96 of its Rules of Procedure,

AddedAdditionally, unless stated otherwise, all budget lines amended by the Council and agreed by the Parliament in its reading are confirmed as amended by the Council.

Removed– having regard to the opinions of the Committee on Development, Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety, Committee on Public Health, Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Committee on Fisheries, Committee on Culture and Education,

AddedFor the other budget lines, the Conciliation Committee has agreed on the conclusions included in sections 1.2 to 1.7 below.

Removed– having regard to the letters from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on Security and Defence, Committee on Budgetary Control, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Committee on Transport and Tourism, Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality,

Added1.2. Horizontal issues

Removed– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A10-0192/2025),

AddedDecentralised agencies

RemovedSection III – European Commission - Budget 2026: building a resilient, sustainable and prosperous future for Europe

AddedThe EU contribution (in commitment and payment appropriations) and the number of establishment plan posts for all decentralised agencies are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget for 2026 as amended in Amending Letter No.1/2026, with the following exceptions:

Removed1. Recalls that, in its resolution of 2 April 2025 on general guidelines for the preparation of the 2026 budget, Parliament set clear political priorities for the 2026 budget; reaffirms its strong commitment to those priorities and sets out the following position to ensure an appropriate level of financing to deliver on them within the current very tight budgetary constraints; believes that the Union must be equipped with all possible budgetary means to deliver on Union priorities and to foster a prosperous future for Europe and its people;

Added Under sub-heading 2b:

Removed2. Stresses that, in times of uncertainties stemming from geopolitical instability and heightened security threats as well as the rise in global protectionism and the worsening costs and effects of climate change and biodiversity crisis as well as well as economic and social challenges threatening European people and societies, a reliable, results- and investment-oriented as well as sustainable Union budget remains instrumental for the implementation of the Union’s policies, including cohesion, to provide the people in the Union, who are facing increasingly high costs of living, with a robust ecosystem and to deliver on their priorities; including by exploiting to the fullest possible extent the prevention as well as the crisis response capacity of the Union budget; emphasises that the Union budget must maintain an adequate level of ambition for the prosecution of Union’s policy priorities and to leverage private investment,

Added To allow for normal career progression, the establishment plan for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO, budget article 07 10 08) is amended as follows: the number of AD11 and AD 8 posts are both increased by 4, offset by a reduction in the number of AD6 posts by 7 and a reduction in the number of AD5 posts by 1. The number of AST7 and AST6 posts are both increased by 1 and the number of AST5 posts is increased by 9, offset by a reduction in the number of AST4 posts by 8 and a reduction in the number of AST3 posts by 3. The number of AST-SC4 posts is increased by 1, offset by a reduction in the number of AST-SC2 posts by 1.

Removed3. Emphasises that Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine has brought further substantial economic and social consequences for people across Europe, as well as worldwide, especially the most vulnerable, and in particular frontline countries and in Ukraine; recalls its unwavering support for the people in Ukraine and underlines the crucial role of common investment to maintaining a comprehensive and resolute response from the Union against unprecedented geopolitical challenges and including hybrid security threats;

Added Under heading 4:

Removed4. Underlines that the MFF was not established to address a pandemic, a war, high inflation, high energy prices, food insecurity and ever worsening humanitarian crises, and that while the MFF revision represented an improvement compared to the initial situation, it failed to address all the issues identified at the time of the mid-term revision; deplores that the Union budget is still under pressure, with limited margins and flexibility, and without sufficient ambition for current priorities and also in important future-oriented policy areas; deplores, that, despite the MFF revision, overall ceilings and margins remain very low in the Financial Programming and the 2026 draft budget (DB), standing at zero in two headings (sub-heading 2b and heading 7) and close to zero in two other headings (sub-heading 2a and heading 5);

Added For the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) (budget article 11 10 01), 7 posts are removed from the establishment plan (2 AD7 and 5 AD6).

Removed5. Considers that the Union budget, on account of its size, structure and rules, has a very limited capacity to respond appropriately in 2026 to the challenges facing the Union and has insufficient resources to adequately address the current economic, social, climate and environmental as well security challenges or to adequately finance and implement today’s priorities; recalls its long-standing position that new policy priorities or tasks should be accompanied by fresh money and that Union institutions and bodies, must be properly staffed and adequately resourced to fulfil their mandate and additional tasks; emphasises that all spending through the Union budget must be subject to parliamentary scrutiny;

Added Under heading 5:

Removed6. Recalls the binding nature of Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 on the protection of the Union budget; reiterates that the allocation and implementation of Union funds under all programmes and budgetary headings shall take place only in full respect of democratic principles, transparency and fundamental rights; stresses in particular that Member States and beneficiaries must have effective mechanisms in place to prevent, detect and remedy conflicts of interest at all levels of management, control and decision-making relating to Union funds and that the Union budget must be protected from any forms of conflict of interest;

Added For the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol, budget article 12 10 01), 7 posts are added to the establishment plan (2 AD7 and 5 AD6), while the number of contract agents is reduced by 7.

Removed7. Deplores that the Council, in its position which it calls “prudent”, proposes to cut commitment appropriations by EUR 1,3 billion across the MFF headings; stresses that, by applying such largely unjustified cuts across headings on programme lines to generate additional unallocated margins, the Council’s reading sticks to an approach that is not fit for purpose in times of crisis and very volatile political, economic and international environment; underlines that this approach is not based in the reality of current budgetary needs; strongly opposes the Council cuts targeting programmes that benefit from the adjustment provided for in Article 5 of the MFF Regulation for “rebalancing and stabilisation”, since that would contradict the objective of that MFF provision, which was to strengthen specific political priorities; considers in addition that many of the budgetary cuts from important programmes such as Erasmus+ are made with the sole intention of repaying the NGEU interest costs cutting precisely from funding for the next generation of Europeans that is supposed to benefit the most from such programmes and which goes against the objectives of the EURI cascade mechanism to not cutting programmes;

AddedExecutive agencies

Removed8. Underscores that the 2026 budget must be aligned with the Union’s objectives and international commitments; stresses the need for continuous work to achieve the climate and biodiversity mainstreaming targets for Union budget spending laid down in the IIA, as part of the broader process of making the Union climate-neutral by 2050 at the latest; recalls the target for biodiversity spending of 10 % for the years 2026 and 2027 and the target for climate spending of 30 %; regrets that the biodiversity target will not be met in 2026; stresses, furthermore, that the Union budget should be implemented in line with Article 33(2) of the Financial Regulation, therefore without doing significant harm to the environmental objectives, where feasible and appropriate in accordance with the relevant sector-specific rules; recalls that all Union programmes, policies and activities should be implemented in a way that promotes gender equality in the delivery of their objectives; notes, in this regard, the Commission’s work, in accordance with the IIA, to track gender equality-related spending, in particular through an ex-post gender impact assessment and reporting on volumes;

AddedThe EU contribution (in commitment and payment appropriations) and the number of establishment plan posts for executive agencies are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget for 2026 as amended in Amending Letter No.1/2026.

Removed9. Welcomes the Commission's new efforts to present more options for new sources of revenue for the Union budget; in this respect, takes note of the Commission’s proposal for a Council Decision on the System of Own Resources of the European Union of 16 July 2025; stresses that new genuine own resources are essential not only to enable repayment of NGEU borrowing, but to ensure that the Union is equipped to cover its higher spending needs; calls on the Council to speed up its work on the new own resources;

AddedPilot Projects/Preparatory Actions

Removed10. Recalls that the decentralised agencies play an important role in the implementation of the Union’s current priorities; emphasises that the agencies’ resources, including both budgetary and human resources must sufficiently reflect the tasks obligated upon the agencies in their basic acts, and in the extensions of their mandates;