EUFunds4Social

In July and September 2025, the European Commission presented its proposal for the next budget, the so-called Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), covering the period 2028–2034.  

The proposed budget amounts to almost €2 trillion, representing around 1.26% of EU gross national income. While this represents an increase in nominal terms compared to the current budget of €1.2 trillion, much of this reflects inflation and debt repayment.

The Commission presents the new MFF as a response to Europe’s current priorities: competitiveness, prosperity, security and simplification. To achieve this, it proposes a new funding architecture that significantly reduces the number of EU funds.

CohesionPolicy funds like the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) would merge with 12 other funds covering migration, climate, agriculture, and fisheries into new National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs). This mirrors the Recovery and Resilience Facility model, shifting planning and implementation to single national plans.

Member States would gain more flexibility to set their own funding priorities. But the proposal also sets a 14% social spending target within the NRPPs a smaller pot now stretched across more activities, including infrastructure.

And it removes dedicated budget lines for social inclusion, child poverty, material deprivation and youth employment. It weakens the guarantee that EU funding stays tied to the European Pillar of Social Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Find our analysis: 100 billion Euros for social spending? The devil’s in the details

Read the EASPD briefing: Understanding the next long-term EU Budget: Briefing paper on the Multiannual Financial Framework of the European Union

Our demands are based on 4 key points:  

1. More money for social
   • Keep the ESF and the ERDF as separate funds with their own rules and dedicated budgets.
   • Increase the percentage of social spending from 14% to at least 25% of the NRPPs, to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR).
   • Within social spending, protect funding for people-centred support over infrastructure.
   • Re-establish minimum spending for social inclusion, child poverty, homelessness, youth employment, material deprivation, and capacity building for civil society.
2. Stronger guarantees for rights and inclusion​​​​​​ 
   • Maintain enabling conditions linking funding to policy commitments,  including the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.                                                                                     
   • Ensure that EU funding contributes to the implementation of the Pillar of Social Rights through policy and funding.
   • Strengthen their monitoring and enforcement of conditionalities.
3. Meaningful partnership
   • Involve regional and local authorities, social partners, civil society and people with lived experience in designing, running and monitoring of all EU funding.
   • Within the NRPPS make partnership real. Give regional and local authorities, civil society and social partners a formal role, backed by tools like multi-stakeholder platforms.
4. Accessible funding for social actors, including smaller beneficiaries
   • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Protect direct EU funding for social innovation, capacity building and transnational cooperation of civil society organisations and social partners, now under the EaSI strand of ESF+.
   • Keep EU funding accessible to smaller organisations: higher co-funding, simpler procedures, fewer administrative barriers, capacity-building, and stable funding.

Find more on our position: Building on what works: an EU budget that delivers for people and regions

Since March 2025, the EUFunds4Social Coalition's joint statements have been endorsed by over 60 European networks and 250 organisations, to ensure social investment is strengthened, not weakened, in the next EU budget. To amplify these messages, we have engaged in a series of strategic meetings with representatives of EU institutions, including the European Commission and the European Parliament. The Coalition also engages with national representatives, recognising that Member States will play a decisive role in shaping the final agreement.

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The coalition maintains an ongoing dialogue with the European Parliament through regular meetings with MEPs, assistants and political advisors to ensure that our priorities are reflected in the Parliament’s work on the MFF. In addition, we have provided targeted amendment proposals to the MEPs leading the drafting of the key reports that set out Parliament’s position on the Commission proposal.  

The coalition has also engaged on several occasions with representatives of the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee. Alongside this it has engaged with the permanent representation of different Member States to the EU, to ensure the needs of the European social ecosystem we represent are properly heard at all levels of negotiation.  

As negotiations on the 2028–2034 MFF accelerate, every advocacy effort can play a role in shaping outcomes at both European and national level.  

Engagement should not be limited to Brussels. Reaching out to national ministries involved in Council discussions is crucial, as Member States ultimately determine the political balance of the final agreement. 

Advocacy actions for national organisations:  

• Who to target:  
  • Relevant national ministries involved in the negotiations, in particular those responsible for financial affairs and social affairs 
  • Your country’s Permanent Representation to the EU, especially the social and finance attaché 
  • Members of the European Parliament from your country, particularly those serving on the BUDG, REGI, EMPL or LIBE committees 
• What to do:  
  • Read our National Toolkit
  • Share the Coalition’s last Joint Statement: “Building on what works” 
  • Request a meeting 
  • During the meeting: present the statement, highlight your own experience with and of use of EU funds, and refer to the accompanying presentation
  • For support on contacts, messaging and to share meeting outcomes to inform our next steps reach out to us (irene.bertana@easpd.eu)