On the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2026

on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2026 (11216/2025 – C10-0206/2025 – 2025/0210(BUD))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),

–having regard to Article 106a of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,

–having regard to Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/2053 of 14 December 2020 on the system of own resources of the European Union and repealing Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom,

–having regard to the Commission proposal of 22 December 2021 for a Council decision amending Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/2053 on the system of own resources of the European Union (COM(2021)0570) and its position of 23 November 2022 on the proposal,

–having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021-2027 and to the joint declarations agreed between Parliament, the Council and the Commission in this context and the related unilateral declarations,

– having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2022/2496 of 15 December 2022 amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027,

– having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/765 amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027 (MFF revision),

– having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (recast) (the Financial Regulation),

– having regard to its resolution of 2 April 2025 on general guidelines for the preparation of the 2026 Budget - Section III,

–having regard to its resolution of 16 December 2020 on the draft Council regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027,

– having regard to its resolution of 3 October 2023 on the proposal for a mid-term revision of the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027,

–having regard to its resolution of 27 February 2024 on the draft Council regulation amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027,

–having regard to its resolution of 10 May 2023 on the impact on the 2024 EU budget of increasing European Union Recovery Instrument borrowing costs,

–having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget,

–having regard to its resolution of 3 April 2025 on Parliament’s estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2026,

–having regard to its resolution of 15 December 2022 on upscaling the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework: a resilient EU budget fit for new challenges,

–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,

–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,

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

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

–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,

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

–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),

–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),

–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),

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

–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,

–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,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A100000/2025),

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

1. 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 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;

2. 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 effects of climate change, a reliable, investment-oriented Union budget remains instrumental for the implementation of the Union’s policies, to provide the people in the Union 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;

3.Emphasises that Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine has brought further substantial economic and social consequences for people across Europe, especially the most vulnerable, in 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 new hybrid security threats;

4. Underlines that while the MFF revision represented a clear improvement compared to the initial situation, the MFF was not established to address a pandemic, a war, high inflation, high energy prices, food insecurity, and humanitarian crises; deplores that the Union budget is still under pressure, with limited margins and flexibility, and without sufficient ambition in important future-oriented policy areas; regrets, that, despite the MFF revision, overall ceilings and margins are still 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);

5. 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 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;

6. 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; underlines that this approach is not based in the reality of current budgetary needs, as these margins are not intended for use in the annual budget 2026; 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 that is supposed to benefit the most from such programmes;

Special instruments and cascade mechanism

7. Notes that the 2026 budget will be the second full annual budgetary procedure under the revised MFF ceilings and rules; reminds that a certain level of redeployments, in particular under Headings 1 and 6 was part of the MFF revision package; stresses its firm position to not see such reductions repeated or made worse in the annual procedure especially as resources are becoming extremely scarce in the last years of implementation of the current MFF;

8. Notes, further, that the initial 2026 availabilities for the Single Margin Instrument for commitments (Article 11(1)(a) of the MFF Regulation) stand at EUR 748,2 million and that the Commission proposes to exhaust the SMI compartment (a) for Heading 7 - European Public Administration; is concerned that as a result, a total amount of only EUR 132,5 million remains available for unforeseen expenditure in 2026, all of which under the Flexibility Instrument (assuming that no amount would still be mobilised in the course of 2025);

9.Underlines, once again, that repayment of the EURI borrowing costs is a legal obligation for the Union and a non-discretionary expenditure item in the Union budget; takes note with concern that the NGEU overrun costs, i.e. the needs for the EURI refinancing costs which have not yet been programmed, amount to approximately EUR 4,3 billion, twice the Commission’s forecast, while the Amending Letter 1/2026 will update the needs estimation for 2026; notes that the Commission, in its DB, applies a 50:50 approach to the cascade mechanism, covering an amount of EUR 2,1 billion from the budget - i.e. 50 % of the cost overruns - stemming from the unallocated margin under sub-heading 2b for an amount of EUR 73 million and by the Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 2 065 million, with the remaining half to be mobilised through the EURI instrument over and above the ceiling, covered by decommitments made since 2021;

10. Disagrees with the Council’s approach to opt for what it calls “prudent” budgeting, creating artificial margins under the MFF ceilings; regrets that the Council, in its position on the 2026 budget, and similar to previous years, reduces appropriations dedicated for EURI borrowing costs; alerts that in order to create additional unallocated margins (mostly in sub-heading 2b but also in other headings, presumably in view of using it in future years through the SMI), sizeable reductions to a number of flagship programme envelopes have been proposed that have repercussions in 2026 as well as in 2027; stresses that the cuts in sub-heading 2b are particularly disconcerting as the only motivation is to use the money for financing EURI to the detriment of the people-centred nature of the programmes anchored in the same heading as EURI; recalls that the most affected programmes, Horizon Europe, CEF digital and Erasmus, are well-established priorities for the European Parliament and flagship programmes of the Union; deplores that the Council targets for reductions are across several headings and even touch some programmes that were already subject to the MFF revision redeployments, such as Horizon, or lines that were topped up in previous years, such as Erasmus+, EU4Health or LIFE;

11. Recalls the Interinstitutional Agreement adopted as part of the 2020 MFF agreement, whereby expenditure to cover NGEU financing costs “shall aim at not reducing programmes and funds”; restores, therefore, all the cuts proposed by Council to ensure that programmes are properly resourced and that the budget’s flexibility and response capacity are maintained throughout the annual budgetary procedure; insists on the need for the Commission to provide reliable, timely and accurate information on NGEU borrowing costs and on expected Recovery and Resilience Facility disbursements throughout the budgetary procedure;

12.Is alarmed by the fact that part of the EURI financing needs in 2026 is in fact due to the liquidity management cost of 2025; notes that, for the first time, liquidity management costs have increased significantly due to delays in payment requests as some member states are slowing down the implementation of their recovery and resilience plans; underlines that the liquidity management costs are an additional burden in a context of extremely scarce resources; deplores that the currently estimated liquidity management cost of EUR 300 million for 2026 would consume approximately half of the overall availabilities (including margins and special instruments) of the DB; requests in this context that the liquidity management cost is isolated in a separate new budget line for transparency purposes; is of the strong opinion that this cost was never intended by the co-legislator to be included in the amounts subject to the 50 % benchmark within the cascade mechanism agreed during the MFF revision; argues therefore that it should be financed solely from the decommitment compartment of the EURI instrument;

Heading 1 - Single market, Innovation and Digital

13. Recalls that programmes under Heading 1 play a key role in supporting research and innovation, increasing the Union’s competitiveness, driving growth, economic development and job creation with an emphasis on SMEs, boosting funding for cross-border infrastructure, in particular in the transport and energy sectors, thus contributing significantly to the green and digital transitions;

14. Highlights the vital role that Horizon Europe plays in this context; recalls that the programme remains heavily over-subscribed and is therefore unable to support a large number of research projects evaluated as ‘excellent’; proposes, therefore, to increase allocations for the programme by a total of EUR 60 million compared to the DB, with reinforcements for the Cluster ‘Health’ to boost R&D, including in antimicrobial resistance, as well as for the Cluster ‘Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society’ and the Cluster ‘Climate, Energy, Mobility’;

15. Calls on increasing the CEF Energy investments for an improved functioning and a deeper integration of energy markets, through modernisation of infrastructure, enhanced transmission and distribution grids and interconnections, better integration of renewables and broadening of clean energy supply, while reducing Union dependence on fossil fuels and improving energy efficiency; proposes, in this regard, to increase appropriations for CEF Energy by EUR 50 million above the DB;

16. Recalls that the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is key for the Union’s overall security and for boosting investment in high-performance sustainable trans-European networks, and thereby promoting interconnectivity as well as for supporting the completion of TEN-T; in this sense, calls for additional investments to support research, development of cutting-edge technologies and innovation in transport infrastructure, including by stimulating the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure and improving digital connectivity ; proposes, therefore, to increase appropriations for CEF Transport by EUR 30 million above the DB;

17. Stresses that a well-functioning Single Market is critical for the Union’s competitiveness and for enhancing access to markets for Union businesses, especially SMEs and young entrepreneurs; notes that SMEs in particular are the backbone of the European economy and proposes an increase of EUR 4 million above the DB for the SME strand of the Single Market programme, to enhance technological advancement, competitiveness and economic resilience;

18. Reinforces Heading 1 by EUR 144 024 914 in commitment appropriations above the DB (excluding pilot projects and preparatory actions) and by EUR 632 272 317 compared to the Council reading;

Sub-heading 2a - Economic, social and territorial cohesion

19. Underlines the key role cohesion policy plays in delivering on Union policy priorities, improving peoples’ quality of life and boosting the Union economy by contributing to fair and sustainable growth and development, promoting economic and social convergence between countries and regions, notably outermost regions, supporting the green and digital transitions, fostering innovation and employment and addressing regional and social inequalities; reiterates that cohesion policy is not a crisis response tool and, therefore, should not be called on to make up for shortcomings in budgetary flexibility or crisis response mechanisms to the detriment of its long-term policy objectives; calls on the Commission and all Member States to maintain the cruising speed of implementation of cohesion policy, in parallel to the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility;

20. Welcomes the recent acceleration in the execution of operational programmes in the Member States and regions and calls on Member States to continue to provide the necessary administrative capacity at all levels of governance; insists on the importance of ensuring funds accessibility to achieve absorption;

21. Accepts the Council position with respect to sub-heading 2a;

Sub-heading 2b - Resilience and values

22. Underlines that the expenditure programmes under sub-heading 2b have to share the already tight resources and margins with the EURI budget line which covers the NGEU interest costs, and that this has de facto prevented the Commission from proposing reinforcements where they are needed; is determined to cover these interest costs in a reliable and transparent manner while safeguarding programme allocations in this sub-heading;

23. Is alarmed by the ever-growing impact of natural disasters; underlines that in light of the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events and natural disasters, effective Union coordination and robust disaster response capacities across Member States are all the more required; stresses that the RescEU mechanism has so far proven to be an instrumental and successful Union instrument in responding to crisis situations; notes that the Union action in this context responds to high citizens’ expectations; emphasises the need to significantly increase the funding of the Union's capacities to ensure effective disaster prevention, preparedness and rapid response capabilities and coordination and cross-border preparedness; highlights that investing in prevention and early detection protects lives and is more efficient than responding to crises; decides therefore to increase funding for the Union Civil Protection Mechanism by EUR 30 million;

24. Underlines the importance of a stronger Health Union and enhanced protection, prevention, preparedness and response against human health hazards; highlights the vital role that the EU4Health programme plays in this respect, as well as in supporting actions that enhance the availability, accessibility and affordability of medicinal products, medical devices and crisis-relevant products; underlines that the Union’s public health needs are steadily progressing in light of the increased demographic pressure; proposes to increase the programme’s appropriations by EUR 5 million above the DB to support investments with a focus on cardiovascular diseases, cancer, rare diseases and mental health;

25. Reiterates its unwavering support for promoting the learning mobility of young people and researchers; proposes to reinforce, against this background, the Union flagship programme Erasmus+, which consistently contributes to the priorities of long-term competitiveness, employability and resilience, directly benefitting citizens, including learners and young people and engaging them in Europe's democratic life; emphasises that the programme is required by law to put in place measures to boost participation rates among people with fewer opportunities and from disadvantaged backgrounds and calls for a readjustment of Erasmus+ grants to account for higher inflation and higher living costs; proposes, therefore, an increase of EUR 5 million for Erasmus+, specifically to ensure that the programme is accessible to all;

26. Highlights, in addition, that the appropriations under Erasmus + should also be intended to cover the costs incurred by the Commission for an alternative solution benefitting Hungarian students, in line with the requirement included in the conditionality regulation to properly safeguard the legitimate interests of final recipients and beneficiaries; underlines that any alternative solution shall be implemented without prejudice to the implementing decision under the conditionality regulation of December 2022, which is a consistent and lawful application of that regulation;

27. Underscores the continued socio-economic challenges in the cultural and creative sectors, which are often made up of small organisations and individual artists, and the key role of these sectors in combatting disinformation and promoting and protecting media freedom and pluralism as the basis for a functioning democracy; proposes to increase financing for the cross-sectoral strand of the Creative Europe programme by a total of EUR 2,5 million above the DB;

28. Reiterates the major role of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme in promoting European values; proposes, therefore, to increase appropriations for the programme by EUR 2,5 million above the DB;

29. Recalls the need to support Employment and Innovation initiatives as well as the free movement of workers; proposes in this regard to reinforce the financing for the ESF+ under the Employment and Social Innovation strand by EUR 2,5 million and the financing for the information and training measures for workers’ organisations by EUR 1 million;

30. Demands an increase of the support to the Turkish-Cypriot line by EUR 1 million above DB in order to finance the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus and support the bi-communal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage;

31. Recalls the important role played by the decentralised agencies under sub-heading 2b, including the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) that has to deal with an increased casework and additional needs in digitalisation and global partnerships, as well as the European Institute for Gender Equality which plays a key role in achieving the equality objectives of the Union; therefore reinforces the Agencies’ funding by respectively EUR 6 million and EUR 1 million to ensure their sustainable operations;

32. Considers that the activities of the EPPO do in itself not only contribute to the protection of the Union’s financial interests, but also have the potential to recover amounts of the Union budget that were not used for its intended purpose due to criminal activities; considers that amounts resulting from seizing and confiscating measures adopted by the European Delegated Prosecutors in the Member States could, after deduction of costs incurred by the Member States’ authorities to implement these measures, flow back into the Union budget, in line with Article 38 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939; proposes therefore to create a new revenue line for ‘Receipts of seizing and confiscating measures adopted by the EPPO’;

33. Reinforces sub-heading 2b overall by EUR 56 500 000 in commitment appropriations above the DB levels (excluding pilot projects and preparatory actions) and by EUR 831 089 901 compared to the Council reading;

Heading 3 - Natural Resources and Environment

34. Recalls that programmes under Heading 3 play a key role in bolstering support for farmers, notably the younger generation, across the Union, in particular given the farmers' discontent, and given the critical role that agriculture plays in food security; underlines that farmers are facing important challenges such as geopolitical disruptions, trade disputes, extreme weather conditions, epizootic diseases, market volatility, rural poverty, administrative burden and increased societal expectations; stresses the crucial role of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in this regard and recalls the objectives under Article 39 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which include increasing agricultural productivity by promoting technical progress, optimum utilisation of the factors of productions, ensuring a reasonable standard of living for farmers, and guaranteeing food security;

35. Reiterates its concern about the negative impact of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine on global food security and affordability as well as input prices; emphasises the need to help new and young farmers as well as small and medium-sized farmers with additional means and thereby ensuring the sustainability of the sector and generational renewal; proposes, therefore, to increase complementary income support to young farmers by EUR 23 million above the DB;

36. Emphasises that farmers and rural communities are vital contributors to quality, healthy food, food security and that they play a key role in the preservation of rural areas and in countering the depopulation of the most remote areas;

37. Calls for maintaining a strong budget for the promotion of agricultural products as this programme is essential to increase awareness and recognition of Union quality schemes as well as the competitiveness of Union agricultural products; decides, therefore, to increase the allocation of this budget line under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) by EUR 30 million above the DB;

38. Underscores that trade policy and agricultural policy must be designed in an integrated manner in order to respect fair competition and international trade commitments as well as Union’s global food security responsibilities and environmental and climate policy objectives; stresses in this regard that the framework agreement with the United States on transatlantic tariffs will increase pressure on European farmers notably in sensitive sectors such as the wine sector which is already facing significant challenges; therefore proposes to increase the allocation of the budget line dedicated to the wine sector under the EAGF by EUR 15 million above the DB;

39. Recalls that fisheries, aquaculture and processing sectors are fundamental pillars of the economic, social and cultural fabric of Union coastal and island communities and that the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) is a fundamental funding programme for fishers and for the cohesion of coastal and island communities such as for the renewal of the Union’s fleet;

40. Underlines the important role that the LIFE programme plays in supporting climate adaptation and mitigation, in delivering on the European Green Deal and achieving the Union’s climate neutrality goal, by investing in nature and biodiversity, reducing emissions and increasing the use of renewable energy and creating a circular economy, protecting ecosystems and reversing the trend of biodiversity loss; emphasises the role of the LIFE programme in accelerating the clean energy transition; proposes, therefore, to increase appropriations for the clean energy transition strand by EUR 15 million above the DB and for the nature and biodiversity strand by EUR 10 million above the DB;

41. Reverses all the cuts unduly made by the Council under Heading 3, by restoring the DB levels for all other lines; recalls that, traditionally, an Amending Letter will complete the picture regarding available resources under the EAGF and that the approach to amendments can be adjusted accordingly in the course of the conciliation;

42. Reinforces Heading 3 by EUR 93 000 000 in commitment appropriations above the DB (excluding pilot projects and preparatory actions) and by EUR 110 704 728 compared to the Council reading;

Heading 4 - Migration and Border Management

43. Underlines that armed conflicts, instability in neighbouring regions, as well as poverty and underlying trends in economic development, demographic changes, but also the consequences of climate change, continue to create migration flows towards the Union, placing significant pressure on programmes and agencies under Heading 4;

44. Reiterates the importance of ensuring proper implementation of the Asylum and Migration Pact, in full compliance with international human rights law, and of respecting the principles of solidarity and the fair sharing of responsibility; stresses that effective management and protection of the Union’s external borders, inland, air and maritime, are essential for maintaining the freedoms of the Schengen area and crucial for the security of the Union and its citizens;

45. Underlines the need to better protect vulnerable people from smuggling and trafficking networks and address the negative effects of the instrumentalisation of migrants as part of hybrid attacks; recalls the crucial role Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI) plays in that regard; proposes therefore to increase appropriations for the BMVI by EUR 30 million above the DB;

46. Notes that additional financing is needed under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) in order to ensure an appropriate implementation of the Asylum and Migration Pact, further boost national capacities and improve procedures for migration management; decides, therefore, to reinforce the AMIF by EUR 10 million above the DB;

47. Highlights the need for the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to have the requisite resources to carry out its tasks in accordance with its mandate - border control activities at the Union’s external borders, assistance to national authorities on search and rescue, return operations, sharing intelligence and expertise with all Member States as well as the neighbouring non-Uniont countries affected by migratory trends and cross-border crime; decides therefore to refuse the Council’s unjustified cut and restore appropriations to the levels of the DB;

48. Reinforces Heading 4 overall by EUR 40 000 000 in commitment appropriations above the DB and by EUR 61 000 000 compared to the Council reading;

Heading 5 - Security and Defence

49. Recalls the highly unstable geopolitical situation and international environment around the Union giving rise to greater security and defence challenges since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; underlines the need to enhance Union security and defence capabilities to create a genuine defence union and to better prepare for and respond to unprecedented geopolitical challenges and new hybrid security threats; considers that there is broad consensus that the Union's current budget is too limited to meet the needs for ensuring the security of Europeans in the short term; therefore supports significantly increasing financial and budgetary Union investment for European defence in the future;

50. Reiterates that military mobility is essential to the Union’s defence preparedness and the protection of its citizens in light of the shifting security environment, the increasing need for cross-border dual-use transport by both road and rail, as well as for law enforcement movements; underlines that the programme is oversubscribed and has substantial absorption capacity; decides, therefore, to increase appropriations for military mobility by EUR 35 million above the DB;

51. Decides to restore the nuclear safeguards budget line to the level proposed in the DB in order avoid endangering the programme implementation;

52. Recalls the crucial role played by decentralised agencies operating in the field of security and law enforcement, in particular with regard to the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol); proposes a targeted staffing and financial reinforcement to allow the Agency to properly perform its tasks;

53. Reinforces Heading 5 overall by EUR 55 136 377 in commitment appropriations above the DB and the Council reading;

Heading 6 - Neighbourhood and the World

54.Welcomes that the MFF revision in 2024 provided for additional funding under Heading 6; deplores, however, the fact that this revision fell short of the needs identified by Parliament and that various budget lines under Heading 6 see considerable decreases in the DB as compared to the budget 2025 in contradiction with ever-increasing needs; acknowledges the limited margin available under this Heading and the resulting small room for manoeuvre;

55.Reiterates its full support to Ukraine in the fight for its freedom and democracy; deplores the terrible loss of lives and the suffering of the Ukrainian people caused by Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression;

56.Underlines the importance of the Southern Neighbourhood line in supporting political, economic and social reforms in the region and in meeting increased humanitarian needs as well as for other purposes of regional cooperation; proposes to increase appropriations for the line by EUR 35 million above the DB, with the aim of increasing funding to UNRWA given its vital role in delivering humanitarian aid and essential services like health and education to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the wider region, to support reconstruction in Gaza, and to strengthen humanitarian and economic assistance in Syria, with support programmes addressing infrastructure reconstruction, accountability mechanisms, reinforcing the space for civil society and social stability in the country and to support ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East;

57.Stresses that the Eastern Neighbourhood continues to be significantly affected by the Russian war of aggression, with countries providing shelter and assistance to refugees fleeing the war and facing direct knock-on effects on their economies; stresses the need for targeted financial and technical assistance to help these countries stabilise their economies and strengthen public infrastructure amidst these pressures; underlines the importance of supporting countries where, due to the recent suspension or redirection of US democracy assistance funding, including from USAID and the State Department's DRL bureau, many independent civil society organisations and media outlets, including Radio Free Europe, in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia have been forced to scale down, suspend, or close, which threatens democratic development and increases the vulnerability of these societies to authoritarian and Russian influence; proposes, therefore, to increase appropriations by EUR 25 million above the DB for the Eastern Neighbourhood to address these complex challenges;

58.Shares the Council’s assessment that the needs for humanitarian aid are increasingly high; considers that, given the highly challenging international context, increasing geopolitical instability, accelerating humanitarian crises around the globe, rising extreme poverty and hunger, and the ongoing climate change-induced emergencies, humanitarian aid needs in 2026 are likely to be much higher than estimated by the Council and the Commission; regrets that the modest increase proposed by the Council is made at the expense of other essential budget lines within Heading 6; proposes, therefore, taking into account the limited margin available and in addition to restoring all of the cuts unduly made by the Council, to increase appropriations for humanitarian aid by EUR 50 million compared to the DB;

59.Wishes to add a new budget line dedicated to the Reform and Growth Facility for the Republic of Moldova; argues that this is the prerogative of the budgetary authority and is in line with the requirement set out in the Financial Regulation for budget nomenclature to comply with the principles of specification, sound financial management and transparency; believes that the creation of such a budget line is justified due to the fact that as a rule, each chapter of the Union budget shall correspond to a programme or an activity, in order to allow the budgetary authority to oversee and control the implementation of programmes and activities independently from one another;

60.Overall, reinforces Heading 6 by EUR 110 000 000 in commitment appropriations above the DB and the Council reading;

Heading 7 - European Public Administration

61.Recalls that spending under Heading 7 should be set at a level that guarantees that the Union has an effective and efficient administration; considers that the Council’s cuts in this heading are unjustified and would not allow the Commission to fulfil its tasks; restores therefore the DB for the Commission administrative expenditure, including with respect to the executive agencies and the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the EU (CdT);

Pilot projects and preparatory actions (PP-PAs)

62. Recalls the importance of pilot projects and preparatory actions (PP-PAs) as tools for the formulation of political priorities and the introduction of new initiatives that have the potential to turn into standing Union activities and programmes; adopts, following a careful analysis of all the proposals submitted and taking fully into account the Commission's assessment of their compliance with legal requirements and implementability, a balanced package of PP-PAs that reflects Parliament’s political priorities; calls on the Commission to swiftly implement PP-PAs and provide feedback on their performance and results delivered on the ground;

Payments

63. Underlines the need to provide a sufficient level of payment appropriations in the 2026 budget and decides, as a general rule, to reinforce payment appropriations on those lines which are amended in commitment appropriations;

Other Sections

Section I - European Parliament

64. Maintains unchanged the overall level of its budget for 2026 set at EUR 2 636 241 620, in line with its estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2026;

65.Reiterates the Parliament’s priorities for the forthcoming financial year, namely, continuing reinforcing the administrative support for Parliament to exercise its core functions of co-legislator, budgetary and discharge authority, the digital and green transitions, including investments in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, as well as continuing supporting multilingualism;

66. In line with its resolution of 3 April 2025 on Parliament’s estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2026 and taking into account the answers provided by the Secretary-General of the Parliament on 3 September 2025:

(a) welcomes the reforms of DG INLO, DG ITEC and DG COMM aiming at streamlining the services provided while offering more effective support to Members; takes note that an Action Plan was issued in June 2025 on administrative simplification; asks the Secretary-General to provide the Committee on Budgets with estimation on the simplification impact achieved, comparing the actual results with the expected outcomes and then semestrial updates on the progress of that Action Plan with the impact in terms of budget and staff; welcomes that several actions aiming at reducing administrative burdens for Members and facilitating their human resources management are on-going;

(b) highlights the potential of AI to gain efficiencies and streamline administrative processes; welcomes the establishment of an AI Governance Board, an AI Inter-DG Steering Group, and an AI Centre of Competence (DG ITEC); calls for the implementation roadmap to provide solutions, such as applications and tools, to Members and staff and to be made available as soon as possible, while keeping in mind the related risks, including ethics and data protection;

(c) recalls that nearly two-thirds of Parliament's carbon footprint originate from the transportation of people; takes note that Parliament’s services are currently reviewing mission practices and revising staff mission rules with the overall goal of enhancing the effectiveness of staff missions and further diminishing their financial and environmental impact; asks that the revision of the staff mission rules be finalised as soon as possible; takes note that a travel emissions calculation tool will be available by end of 2025 to enable staff, Members, and Parliament’s visitors to make more informed travel choices;

(d) welcomes that by the end of 2024, the Parliament’s total energy production from solar photovoltaic (PV) has increased by 1040 % since 2020; deplores that the installation of PV in WEISS building is very difficult;

(e) points out that multilingualism is a fundamental principle that makes the content of deliberations in the Union institutions more accessible and transparent, and ensures that proceedings are democratic; agrees that any AI solutions should ensure equal quality for all official languages of the Union; expects to be informed about the output of the revision of the Code of Conduct for Multilingualism due by the end of 2025;

(f) requests the Secretary-General to provide the Committee on Budgets with detailed information on a possible loan to cover the costs of the SPAAK building renovation, in accordance with Article 272(6) of the Financial Regulation, as soon as possible as well as the full planning of the works including the planning of the costs; takes note of the estimation of the costs of several preparatory actions to vacate the SPAAK building by 2027 with a temporary and permanent character; underlines that the total costs indicated in the Secretary-General’s answers mentioned above amount to EUR 28 million, mainly for DGs INLO, ITEC, LINC, SAFE; asks the Secretary-General and the Parliament’s services to find cost-effective solutions;

(g) reiterates that Europa Experiences are an integral part of Parliament’s ongoing engagement with Union citizens; welcomes the adjusted concept of Europa Experiences as approved by the Bureau on 31 March 2025, to be more cost-efficient and more attractive to visitors; calls on the Secretary-General to update the Committee on Budgets about the savings following the implementation of this revised concept; reiterates its calls for the establishment of Europa Experiences in all Member States as soon as possible;

(i) highlights the role played by European Parliament Liaison Offices (EPLOs) in countering foreign interference and disinformation; takes note that the Bureau Working Group on Communication Outreach and Research endorsed and updated the strategy to counter dis-and misinformation; takes note of the actions taken by the services in that regard; expects that such activities are further strengthened, including the close cooperation with other Union institutions, such as Commission and the European External Action Service and security services in Member States;

67.Takes note of the early termination of the service contract concerning the SPINELLI self-serving canteen and welcomes the agreement reached to ensure continuity of business as well as certainty for the affected external staff; takes note that the agreement re-introduces for the first time since 2015 a subsidy for Parliament’s canteen services and asks the administration to keep the Committee on Budgets informed of the impact for the budget 2026 of this measure; invites the administration to seek, together with the service provider, technical and operational solutions to ensure long-term profitable operations of the SPINELLI self-serving canteen that avoid the use of subsidies, while maintaining a high quality, diverse and affordable offer as well as decent working conditions for staff;

Other Sections (Sections IV-X)

68. Reiterates its deep concerns with the situation of Heading 7 of the current MFF; recalls that the constraints are the results of the cuts applied by the Council to the Commission’s already very low initial proposal when agreeing on the current MFF 2021-2027; regrets the Council’s opposition to the Commission’s proposal to increase the ceiling of Heading 7 in the MFF revision as from 2024; points to the failure to address the issue of the ceiling of Heading 7 in the MFF revision; highlights that the forecasted negative margin for 2026 presupposes the use of special instruments in Heading 7 for that purpose;

69. Condemns the Commission’s horizontal approach to reduce the estimates of the institutions in order to adhere to the principle of stable staffing, and to a maximum increase of 2 % for non-salary related expenditure irrespective of new tasks given to the institutions by the Commission and the co-legislators; underlines the negative consequences of this approach on the work of the institutions;

70. Highlights that the largest parts of the institutions’ budgets are fixed by statutory or contractual obligations and impacted by inflation;

71. Highlights the need for the institutions to have sufficient staff in order to fulfil their mandate and adapt to challenges; welcomes the continuous efforts made by the institutions to redeploy staff and find additional efficiency gains but acknowledges the limits of this approach over the years; stresses the inevitability of reinforcing the amount of staff when necessary in order for the institutions to fulfil their mandates;

72. Increases, for the following duly justified cases, the level of appropriations or staff above the DB in order to give the institutions enough resources to perform adequately, efficiently and effectively the growing number of tasks from their mandate and to be equipped for the upcoming challenges, in particular as regards cyber-security and artificial intelligence; highlights that most of the issues are recurrent issues that were not solved in previous budgetary procedures; proposes therefore to:

(a)restore the level of appropriations in line with the estimates of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Ombudsman, by increasing the level of appropriations above the DB for budgetary lines that cover cyber-security and operational needs;

(b)restore the level of appropriations partially in line with the estimates of the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Committee of the Regions, the European Data Protection Supervisor and European Data Protection Board and the European External Action Service by increasing the appropriations above the DB for budgetary lines covering building security, particularly in delegations, cyber-security and operational needs;

(c)increase the establishment plans above the DB with the corresponding appropriations in line with the institutions’ requests for the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Committee of the Regions; restore the establishment plan in line with the estimates of the European Court of Auditors and the European Data Protection Board; finally, increase the establishment plans above the DB partially in line with the institutions’ requests for the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Data Protection Supervisor, to enable them to face increasing workload and cyber-security challenges.

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73. Instructs its President to forward this resolution, together with the amendments to the draft general budget, to the Council, the Commission, the other institutions and bodies concerned and the national parliaments.