Europe EU budget 2026: More money for security and border protection
The EU wants to spend more money on defense and border security in the coming year - although the overall budget will be slightly smaller. Negotiators from the EU Parliament and the member states agreed that a total of around 190 billion euros can be planned in the 2026 budget, as the two institutions announced.
15.11.2025, 09:50
SDA
According to information provided by the EU member states, the planned expenditure for security and defense will increase by almost 200 million euros to a good 2.8 billion euros. Around 230 million euros more - and therefore a total of just over 5 billion euros - is earmarked for "migration and border management", according to the information.
The agreement still has to be officially confirmed by the EU member states and the European Parliament, but this is considered a formality.
Parliament wanted more money
The decision is based on a proposal by the EU Commission, which presented a budget of 193.26 billion euros for the coming year at the beginning of June. According to the Brussels authority, the money is also to be used to support Ukraine and improve Europe's competitiveness.
Last year, the countries and Parliament agreed on a slightly larger overall budget of just under 200 billion euros for 2025. The member states had voted in favor of a budget of 186.24 billion euros for the coming year.
As usual, the EU Parliament wanted more and entered the negotiations with a demand of 193.9 billion euros.
Germany contributes almost a quarter
The plan for 2026 is the sixth in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the period 2021 to 2027. The EU budget comprises around 1.1 trillion euros. As the Union's largest net contributor, Germany is contributing almost a quarter of the funds. The German government generally emphasizes that Germany also benefits more from the EU single market than any other European economy.
A new multi-year budget from 2028 to 2034 is currently being discussed in Brussels. According to the EU Commission, it should comprise around 2 trillion euros, around 700 billion euros more than is currently estimated for the current budget period - the authority has already received a clear rejection from Germany.
There is also strong opposition to the Commission's plans in the EU Parliament. While there are currently several pots for the common EU agricultural policy (CAP) and for structural support for less developed regions, the Commission wants there to be just one large fund for this in future. Long and intensive negotiations are expected.
