In an interview with Politis, European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration Piotr Serafin sets out the Commission’s proposal for the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF): maintain agriculture and cohesion funding at current nominal levels, while directing additional resources towards areas where Europe faces its greatest vulnerabilities—defence, external borders, migration, and competitiveness.
The aim, Serafin says, is to align the EU budget with today’s strategic priorities while preserving the backbone policies that uphold social and regional cohesion—despite finite resources and diverging national positions.
Why the pivot now
Serafin argues that Europe is falling behind the US and China, and that restoring competitiveness is now essential to safeguarding both the European social model and the continent’s security.
“In the past few years, two weaknesses have become particularly evident: first, Europe is losing competitiveness relative to the United States and China. While money alone cannot fix structural issues, the EU budget must support competitiveness as a prerequisite for sustaining the European social model and ensuring security.
Second, the Union’s security vulnerabilities require stronger collective responses. With limited resources, the logic of our proposal is to preserve nominal allocations for agriculture and cohesion, and to focus increases on external borders, defence, migration, and competitiveness—so the budget reflects current strategic priorities without eroding core policies,” Serafin told Politis.
No nominal cuts to cohesion and CAP
The proposal “preserves” the Common Agricultural Policy and cohesion funding in nominal terms—meaning no headline increases. Analysts point out that consolidation into national and regional partnership plans alters the governance and flexibility of spending, raising concerns among regional actors and farming groups over the implications, even as political leaders insist on continuity of support.
This sets the stage for tough trade-offs as the Council and Parliament prepare to negotiate the final framework.
The money question
With national budgets constrained by deficits and rising defence spending, Serafin supports stabilising national contributions while expanding EU-level revenue through a new basket of “own resources”.
The package under discussion includes proceeds from the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, customs code reforms such as scrapping the de minimis exemption and introducing handling fees on low-value parcels, as well as targeted levies to promote e-waste collection and critical raw material recovery. Other options under consideration include taxes and corporate levies.
Commission briefings confirm that the “own resources” package has been tabled alongside the MFF to broaden and future-proof the EU’s financing model.
Cyprus’ presidency:
Cyprus will hold the Council presidency in the first half of 2026, positioning Nicosia as a neutral dealmaker in a negotiation that requires unanimity—where process management and impartiality will be critical.
Serafin links the timing of the negotiations to three key developments: the European Parliament’s evolving position, progress under Denmark’s current Council presidency in structuring the Council’s work, and the moment the European Council escalates the file to heads of state—where MFF deals are ultimately sealed.
During his recent Tour d’Europe stop in Nicosia, Serafin underlined Cyprus’ role as the talks intensify:
“Cyprus will have a dual role—acting as an honest broker during its presidency by facilitating consensus among all 27 member states, while also exercising its equal vote, as guaranteed by the treaties, in a unanimity-based file where every country’s position holds equal weight.
Smaller member states often find it easier to take on the neutral broker role, and that can be an asset in negotiations where the presidency’s credibility and impartiality affect the pace of compromise—though final agreements are always forged collectively,” he told Politis.
Avoiding another MFF “political thriller”
The Commission is eager to secure agreement on the new MFF early, to avoid the last-minute political drama that delayed the start of programmes under the current cycle and damaged credibility.
Reaching a deal next year is flagged as the responsible target. Still, Serafin acknowledges that even an 18-month timeline would be ambitious for a file of this complexity.
“The MFF should be a tool to help Europe address crises—not become a crisis in itself. Avoiding a drawn-out, last-minute drama is essential for political credibility and to ensure the timely launch of the next budgetary cycle.Ideally, negotiations should conclude next year to prevent the ripple effects of delay. Realistically, even a year and a half would be an ambitious timeline for such a complex unanimity file,” Serafin said in his interview with Politis.
