General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2026 - all sections
PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the draft annual budget of the Union for the financial year 2026.
CONTENT: the 2026 annual budget builds on the mid-term review of the EU's long-term budget (2021-2027), which aimed to respond to a range of recent and unforeseen developments, including a global pandemic, an energy crisis and rising international geopolitical tensions.
2026 BUDGET PROPOSAL
The 2026 draft budget sets appropriations at EUR 193.3 billion in commitments and EUR 192.2 billion in payments (including special instruments), to which an estimated EUR 105.32 billion is added under NextGenerationEU, the EU instrument to support Europe's economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
The draft budget for 2026:
- continues to provide, through the Facility for Ukraine, stable, predictable yet flexible assistance to support key investments and fundamental reforms through loans and grant aid;
- contributes to addressing unprecedented security challenges, in particular through the swift adoption of the proposed European Defence Industry Programme, which aims to strengthen the competitiveness and responsiveness of the European defence industrial and technological base and to ensure the availability and supply of defence products;
- provides additional funding under the proposed mid-term review of cohesion policy, which encourages EU countries to reprogramme cohesion funds towards emerging priorities, such as competitiveness, defence, affordable housing, water resilience and the energy transition;
- provides for increased funding for flagship programmes contributing to the Competitiveness Compass, the Clean Industrial Deal, the Union of Skills, the Single Market Strategy and the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy as well as major simplification measures to simplify rules for EU businesses and enhance competitiveness through a series of Omnibus proposals;
- allows for continued allocation of funding for Syrian refugees in Turkey and across the region. The proposed funding for the Southern Neighbourhood covers key aspects such as the external dimension of migration. Additional funding will be made available to Member States in the first year of implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum in 2026.
NextGenerationEU, the European Union's recovery instrument, continues to provide extraordinary support for investment and reforms across the Union, notably through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). While commitments under NextGenerationEU in the budget were concentrated on the financial years 2021 to 2023, the instrument's implementation will continue until the end of 2026, with large-scale disbursements providing continued broad support to the EU economy.
APPROPRIATIONS BY HEADING OF THE CFP 2021-2027
The 2026 annual budget will be allocated to the following areas in particular:
Heading 1 - Single market, innovation and digital: EUR 22 054.4 million
- EUR 14.12 billion for research and innovation, including EUR 12.97 billion for Horizon Europe, the Union's flagship research programme; funding for the European Semiconductor Regulation under Horizon Europe and through redeployment from other programmes;
- EUR 4.59 billion for European strategic investments, including, for example, EUR 3.02 billion for the Connecting Europe Facility to improve cross-border infrastructure;
- EUR 1.02 billion to ensure the functioning of the single market, including EUR 622 million for the single market programme and EUR 207 million for work on anti-fraud, taxation and customs;
- EUR 1.00 billion for the Digital Europe Programme and EUR 299 million for InvestEU;
- EUR 2.33 billion for space expenditure, mainly for the European space programme.
Heading 2 - Cohesion, resilience and values: EUR 71 726.1 million
- EUR 42.09 billion for regional development and cohesion to support economic, social and territorial cohesion, as well as infrastructure supporting the ecological transition and priority projects of the Union;
- EUR 14.51 billion to support investments in citizens and social cohesion through the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+);
- EUR 15.13 billion for resilience and values, including EUR 4.3 billion for Erasmus+, EUR 396.0 million to support artists and creators across Europe and EUR 332.6 million to promote justice, rights and values.
Heading 3 - Natural resources and environment: EUR 56 971.9 million
- EUR 53.80 billion for the common agricultural policy and EUR 0.80 billion for the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, for European farmers and fishermen;
- EUR 2.18 billion for the environment and climate action, including EUR 802.9 million for the LIFE programme to support climate change mitigation and adaptation and EUR 1.26 billion for the Just Transition Fund.
Heading 4 - Migration and border management: EUR 5 010.0 million
- EUR 2.69 billion for border protection, including EUR 1.2 billion for the Integrated Border Management Fund (IBMF) and EUR 1.13 billion (total EU contribution) for the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex);
- EUR 2.32 billion for migration- related expenditure, including EUR 2.08 billion to support migrants and asylum seekers in line with our values and priorities.
Heading 5 - Security and defence: EUR 2 803.5 million
- EUR 1.99 billion to address defence challenges, including mainly EUR 1.0 billion to support capability development and research under the European Defence Fund (EDF) and EUR 251.3 million to support military mobility.
Heading - Neighbourhood and the world: EUR 15 505.0 million
- EUR 10.11 billion under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI - Global Europe), EUR 2.20 billion for the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III) and EUR 0.50 billion for the Western Balkans Growth Facility, as well as EUR 1.93 billion for Humanitarian Aid (HUMA).
Heading 7 - European public administration: EUR 13 475.2 million
Special thematic instruments: EUR 5 715.9 million
An additional EUR 3.89 billion will be available in grants under the Ukraine Facility , complemented by EUR 6.70 billion in loans.