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2026 European Union budget
SUMMARY OF:
WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE ACT?
This act marks the adoption of the European Union (EU) budget for 2026 by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.
The budget is set at €192.8 billion in spending commitments1 and €190.1 billion in payment2 credits.
KEY POINTS
The budget mobilises significant public funds to enable the EU to:
- deliver on its political priorities, including competitiveness, defence and security;
- strengthen the European defence industrial base, notably through the new European defence industry programme;
- continue to provide financial support to Ukraine;
- address the high volume of payment obligations from commitments made earlier in the 2021–2027 funding cycle;
- continue financing flagship programmes, such as Horizon Europe and Erasmus+.
The main areas of expenditure are the following.
| Commitments (million €) | Payments (million €) | |
|---|---|---|
| Single market, innovation and digital | 22 163.0 | 23 336.6 |
| Cohesion, resilience and values | 71 649.8 | 73 166.7 |
| Economic, social and territorial cohesion | 56 594.0 | 58 298.1 |
| Resilience and values | 15 055.8 | 14 868.5 |
| Natural resources and the environment | 56 529.4 | 52 577.3 |
| Market-related expenditure and direct payments | 40 011.3 | 39 958.1 |
| Migration and border management | 5 018.9 | 3 887.9 |
| Security and defence | 2 813.5 | 2 253.3 |
| Neighbourhood and the world | 15 600.0 | 16 569.7 |
| European public administration | 13 277.5 | 13 277.5 |
| Thematic special instruments to enable the EU to mobilise the necessary funds to react to unforeseen events | 5 715.9 | 5 022.5 |
| Total appropriations | 192 768.1 | 190 091.6 |
The budget identifies the following specific priority commitments.
Single market, innovation and digital
- €13 billion – Horizon Europe;
- €294 million – Research and training programme of the European Atomic Energy Community;
- €852 million – (ITER);
- €299 million – investEU programme;
- €1.7 billion – Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) transport;
- €1 billion – CEF Energy;
- €323 million – CEF Digital;
- €1 billion – Digital Europe programme;
- €624 million – Single market programme, including small and medium-sized enterprises;
- €27 million – EU anti-fraud programme;
- €2.1 billion – EU space programme;
- €150 million – EU secure connectivity programme (the EU’s satellite communication system).
Cohesion, resilience and values
- €34.3 billion – European Regional Development Fund;
- €7.8 billion – Cohesion Fund;
- €8 billion – Financing cost of the European Union Recovery Instrument;
- €178 million – EU Civil Protection Mechanism;
- €688 million – EU4health programme;
- €14.5 billion – European Social Fund Plus;
- €109 million – Employment and social innovation programme;
- €4.3 billion – Erasmus+ programme;
- €150 million – European Solidarity Corps;
- €397 million – Creative Europe programme;
- €292 million – Citizens, equality, rights and values programme.
Natural resources and the environment
- €40 billion – European Agricultural Guarantee Fund;
- €13.3 billion – European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development;
- €803 million – European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund;
- €160 million – Sustainable fisheries partnership agreements and regional fisheries management organisations;
- €814 million – Programme for the environment and climate action (LIFE);
- €1.3 billion – Just Transition Fund.
Migration and border management
- €2.1 billion – Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund;
- €1.1 billion – Border management and visas;
- €141 million – Financial support for customs control equipment.
Security and defence
- €327 million – Internal Security Fund;
- €336 million – European Defence Fund (research);
- €664 million – European Defence Fund (non-research);
- €261 million – Military mobility;
- €121 million – EU secure connectivity programme;
- €456.5 million – European defence industry programme;
- €148 million – Ukraine Support Instrument.
Neighbourhood and the world
- €10.2 billion – Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe;
- €2 billion – Humanitarian aid;
- €404 million – Common foreign and security policy;
- €2.2 billion – Pre-accession assistance;
- €500 million – Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans.
European public administration
- €10 billion – administrative expenditure of the institutions.
Thematic special instruments
- €3.9 billion – Ukraine Facility;
- €1.2 billion – European Solidarity Reserve;
- €595 million – Emergency Aid Reserve;
- €35 million – European Globalisation Adjustment Fund.
FROM WHEN DOES THE ACT APPLY?
It has applied since .
BACKGROUND
The 2026 budget is the sixth under the EU’s 2021–2027 long-term budget, the multiannual financial framework. This framework provides for €1.211 trillion in current prices of EU funding over seven years. It is complemented by NextGenerationEU, a temporary recovery instrument financed through borrowing on the capital markets to support the post-pandemic recovery of EU Member States.
For further information, see:
- EU budget (European Commission)
- 2026 annual budget to fund EU priorities addressing global challenges (European Commission)
- MEPs adopt 2026 EU budget: Focus on competitiveness, research and security (European Parliament).
KEY TERMS
- Commitments. Total volume of contractual obligations for future payments that can be made in a given year.
- Payments. The actual money paid in a given year to cover the commitments of the current and previous years.
MAIN DOCUMENT
Definitive adoption (EU, Euratom) 2026/72 of the European Union’s annual budget for the financial year 2026 (OJ L, 2026/72, ).
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