The European Commission has launched a series of public consultations for its Commission proposal for the future long-term budget of the EU, also known as the Multiannual Financial framework (MFF).
With the public consultations, the goal of the Commission is to enable citizens and stakeholders to express their views on the EU budget for the years after 2027.
Two of these MFF consultations deal with:
The EU funding for competitiveness, and
The EU funding for the single market, and cooperation between national authorities.
The former consultation focuses on the measures that cover EU funding in better supporting economic competitiveness in the EU and overcoming challenges in this field (such as the digitalisation and diffusion of advanced technologies in key sectors). The latter centres around the EU policy areas and strengthened cooperation between national authorities to improve the functioning of the single market.
Among the many topics that are enlisted in the second consultation, participants can indicate their views on:
- the digitalisation of public administrations,
- the deployment of common and/or interoperable digital solutions,
- the removal of disproportionate obstacles to the free movement within the single market
- the support of standardisation efforts (including the development of common standards),
- the optimisation of technical and administrative capacities for Member States,
- the administrative burden for beneficiaries, regional and national authorities, and
- the empowerment of national authorities, citizens, consumers and businesses by addressing knowledge and data gaps and overcoming barriers.
The significance of the Multiannual Financial Framework
The MFF lays out the framework for the financial resources that can maximally be dedicated to the Union’s needs and priorities for the next years. Next to the EU itself, it determines the allocation of financial resources from the EU to EU Member States and activities of external organisations, such as those of research and technology organisations, small and medium/sized businesses, NGO's and many others.
Future steps
The Commission consultations are expected to be open until the middle of May. The Commission will present its formal proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework in July 2025, with a view to securing a timely agreement before its implementation in January 2028.
More info on the MFF public consultations can be found here.