Latest news with #EuropeanCompetitivenessFund
Fibre2Fashion
18-07-2025
- Business
- Fibre2Fashion
$2.32-trn EU budget 2028-2034 presented for stronger Europe
The European Commission yesterday presented its proposal for an ambitious and dynamic Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), amounting to almost €2 trillion (~$2.32 trillion), or 1.26 per cent of the European Union's (EU) gross national income on average between 2028 and 2034. This framework will run for seven years, starting in 2028, and equip Europe with a long-term investment budget matching its ambitions to be an independent, prosperous, secure and thriving society and economy over the coming decade. The European Commission has presented its proposal for a Multiannual Financial Framework, amounting to almost $2.32 trillion, or 1.26 per cent of the EU's gross national income on average between 2028 and 2034. This framework will run for seven years, starting in 2028. The Commission proposed a fundamental redesign of the budget, which will be more streamlined, flexible and impactful. The Commission proposed a fundamental redesign of the EU budget, which will be more streamlined, flexible and impactful. It will significantly enhance the EU's capacity to deliver on core policies while addressing new and emerging priorities, an official release said. The budget will continue to support people, business, member states, regions, partners and the EU's collective future, it noted. The Commission has also proposed new own resources and adjustments to existing ones, which will ease pressure on national budgets, generating €58.5 billion per year. Key features of the new MFF include simpler, more streamlined and harmonised EU financial programmes, so that citizens and companies can easily find and access funding opportunities. The MFF will offer a powerful competitiveness boost for Europe to secure supply chains, scale-up innovation and lead the global race for clean and smart technology. Transparency on and screening of the beneficiaries of the EU budget will be reinforced. Information on the recipients of EU funds will be published in a centralised database. Stepping up investment in skills is fundamental to help EU students and workers embrace opportunities. A reinforced Erasmus+ programme will be the backbone of the Union of Skills, which aims at building skills for quality jobs, upskilling and reskilling. Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport. A new European Competitiveness Fund, worth €409 billion, will invest in strategic technologies to benefit the entire single market. It will focus its support on four areas: clean transition and decarbonisation; digital transition; health, biotech, agriculture and bioeconomy; defence and space. To simplify external action financing, a Global Europe, worth €200 billion for 2028-2034 will maximise impact on the ground and improve visibility of EU external action in partner countries. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Euractiv
17-07-2025
- Business
- Euractiv
Commission's EU budget plan delivers major blow to fisheries
The European Commission has slashed fisheries funding by two-thirds in its proposal for the next long-term EU budget, triggering sharp criticism from lawmakers and the industry. In its proposal for a long-term EU budget for the 2028-2034 period, the EU executive merged the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) into a single mega-fund that also covers cohesion and rural development funds, and which is to be managed by national governments. Beyond the structural overhaul, the fisheries budget has shrunk from around €6 billion to €2 billion. 'The budget cut is as unjustified as it is alarming,' said Spanish MEP Carmen Crespo Díaz of the centre-right European Peoples' Party (EPP) and chair of the Parliament's Fisheries (PECH) committee. This comes 'after years of quota reductions, increasing limitations on fishing days, and a lack of real support for fishing effort,' she added. Crespo also criticised the loss of EMFAF's standalone status. 'Without a specific fund, there is no specific policy,' she warned. Industry representatives echoed the concern. 'We are witnessing a weakening of support for a sector already under severe strain and in steady decline,' said Europêche, the EU's main fishing lobby. EU fisheries Commissioner Costas Kadis, however, dismissed the criticism. 'Fisheries and ocean related policies are very well reflected in all three major building blocks of the new EU budget,' he said on social media. Kadis added that member states can choose to allocate more funds to fisheries through their National and Regional Plans (NRPs), and that the €2 billion is a minimum ringfenced amount within the larger fund. He also pointed to additional funding options, including the European Competitiveness Fund, which supports investments in 'sustainable blue economy', and the Global Europe tool, aimed at 'ocean diplomacy' and combatting illegal fishing. (adm, de)
The Star
16-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
European Commission proposes 2-trln-euro long-term budget
BRUSSELS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a two-trillion-euro (2.33 trillion U.S. dollars) budget for 2028-2034 for the European Union (EU). The budget proposal would raise EU spending to an average of 1.26 percent of the bloc's gross national income, up from around 1.1 percent during the current 2021-2027 cycle. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the budget as "larger, smarter and sharper," saying it reflects Europe's ambition, addresses its challenges and strengthens its independence. The plan includes a new 409-billion-euro European Competitiveness Fund intended to reinforce the EU's defence sector, accelerate industrial innovation and support the transition to clean energy across member states. Within the fund, 131 billion euros would be allocated to defense and space, five times more than in the current multiannual financial framework, according to the Commission. While most funding will still come from EU member states, the Commission is proposing new revenue streams, including a tax on companies with annual net turnover above 100 million euros in any EU country. Approval of the budget requires unanimous agreement from all 27 EU member states and the endorsement of the European Parliament. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollar)
Euractiv
16-07-2025
- Business
- Euractiv
Green groups see EU budget bill as death knell for environment funding
While the European Commission has proposed a substantial increase in the size of the bloc's central budget from 2028, green groups have accused the EU executive of lowering the priority of environmental action and warn civil society voices could be excluded from the policy making process. As expected, the European Commission has proposed axing the LIFE Programme, the EU's only stand-alone funding mechanism for environmental action. The 2028-34 budget bill also squeezes broader funding for climate and biodiversity policy goals. But the EU executive put a positive spin on its move to streamline green funding with the massively increased €2 trillion budget. 'We will have a climate and biodiversity spending target, so mainstreaming, of 35% for the new MFF," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters on Wednesday, referring to the EU's next multiannual financial framework. "This amounts to around €700 billion.' This substantial sum of money would have to be spent in ways that are compatible with the EU goal of reaching net-zero emissions by mid-century, and reversing biodiversity loss. Nevertheless, it is lower than the combined €658 billion ring-fenced for climate and €113 billion for biodiversity in the current budget. From 2028, central budget funding for climate and environment purposes will be split in two separate pillars: the 'clean transition and industrial decarbonisation' envelope of the €410 billion European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), and some €1 trillion spread across different priorities such as economy, agriculture, rural prosperity and security. 'Our proposal for the next MFF shows that we remain strongly committed to environmental priorities," Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall said. "Water, circularity, nature and bioeconomy are prominent parts of the new competitiveness fund and the national plans." Less money for nature However some fear this new approach risks decreasing overall funding for nature and biodiversity. 'The loss of LIFE as we know it in the new MFF is not simplification – it's sabotage," said Patrick ten Brink, secretary general of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), an NGO umbrella group. "The LIFE Programme exists for a reason. It delivers targeted, cost-effective results for nature, climate and public health.' Ester Asin, director of the WWF European Policy Office warned the 35% global target could become little more than a PR exercise. "By grouping all environmental spending under a single target, there is a real danger that biodiversity will be sidelined in favour of industrial priorities that may be presented as green investments," she said. Others warned the proposed budget reform could actually widen a gap in funding for nature restoration that is currently estimated to be €19 billion annually. 'We are deeply concerned by the lack of dedicated biodiversity funding, as the LIFE funding is now suggested to be merged with other programmes," said Andras Krolopp, biodiversity policy lead at The Nature Conservancy. The concerns of civil society groups were also echoed by progressive voices in the European Parliament. 'It is irresponsible and short-sighted for this proposal to end the LIFE programme and leave out funding for biodiversity,' said Green MEP Rasmus Nordqvist, one of the negotiators of the MFF in the Parliament's budget committee. The cancellation of the LIFE Programme also represents an existential threat to numerous environmental NGOs who currently share €15 million in direct grants to cover part of their operational expenses. The Commission says such support could in future be disbursed via national programmes, but it is unclear for now how the funds would be allocated, and whether campaign groups will be able to meet unspecified criteria related to competitiveness or national policy objectives. '[By] repealing LIFE, core funding for environmental NGOs could disappear, leaving civil society under-resourced to support necessary implementation, enforcement, and public engagement," the EEB warned. 'The MFF needs to enable civil society actors to participate effectively in EU-level policymaking," MEP Nordqvist said. "It is essential to safeguard the right of everyone to meaningful participation in decision-making processes and the full cycle of implementation of the EU budget." (rh, aw)
Euractiv
16-07-2025
- Business
- Euractiv
The Brief – Von der Leyen's big budget moment ends in chaos
A day of cancelled briefings, internal dissent, angry MEPs and confusion over the budget's biggest numbers: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen may very well have gone too far in her bold bid to re-think the EU project. Fed up with a never-changing EU spending plan under the multiannual financial framework and emboldened by a dual defence and competitiveness crisis, von der Leyen has mobilised all her political savvy to break the status quo and centre the EU project on herself and the European Commission. Since October , she has been socialising radical ideas for what the next EU budget could look like, and meticulously working behind closed doors on a setup to centralise power in a palatable form for key EU countries. She overplayed her hand. In the critical moment to make her pitch, von der Leyen faced rebellion within her own Commission and did not appear to present her budget overhaul herself. A proposal was initially expected this morning, with briefings in parliament throughout the day. Instead, they failed to land final numbers, six commissioners rebelled against her funding plan, and Parliament briefings were repeatedly delayed or cancelled throughout the day. 'I have literally no idea what is going on,' Siegfried Mureșan, Parliament's budget co-lead from von der Leyen's own party, told Euractiv at midday. At the time of writing, the Commission still hasn't provided its actual proposal, despite hours of speeches and presentations. The curse of unanimity Von der Leyen is asking a lot of the next budget. Breaking decades of precedent, the Commission wants to put around €900 billion into a megafund to use as leverage to implement EU-friendly reforms and a €410 billion European Competitiveness Fund for flexible industrial investments. Farmers and regions face serious cuts, wildly unpopular with major recipients of such funds like Poland, Italy and Spain. On top of that, the Commission announced new EU-wide taxes on tobacco, carbon emissions and large companies, which may disproportionately burden many of the same countries. Von der Leyen's play was bold, and she has already landed some wins. For starters, she's managed to get the two biggest players – Germany and France – to listen to her ideas. On top of this, she has succeeded in setting the terms of the debate. With Europe in the clutch of so many crises – and found wanting on so many fronts – aligning behind a vision for a competitive continent that can withstand existential economic and security threats is a must. But von der Leyen may have aimed too high. Not even managing to keep her own commissioners in check, she now faces a daunting task to get every single EU country and hundreds of MEPs onboard. Parliament doesn't even want to start negotiations with the proposed ideas. A parliament source told Euractiv that Commission bureaucrats are fed up with her radical proposals, and that they eagerly await a chance to pick her proposal apart. Ursula von der Leyen has successfully shaken up the budget debate. Now, we will see whether a Europe in crisis is ready to succumb to her vision, or if they reject her for going too far. (jp, cp) Roundup The moment we've all been waiting for: The European Commission proposed the largest long-term EU budget in its history Wednesday, merging historically separate farming and regional spending programmes into country-specific national plans and creating a €400+ billion fund to boost ailing industry, totalling just under €2 trillion, or 1.26% of the bloc's gross national income. The Šefčovič shuffle: The EU's top trade negotiator Maroš Šefčovič is jetting to Washington on Wednesday for talks with his US counterparts in a renewed push to settle the transatlantic tariffs stand-off. The trip follows Trump's threat of a 30% levy on European goods from 1 August. Meta fine: The European Commission is still considering whether to impose further fines on Meta over its advertising model under the Digital Markets Act following a €200 million decision against the social media giant's pay-or-consent ad practices earlier this year, citing remaining issues that the company has yet to clean up. Across Europe Must the show go on? – Valery Gergiev, the world-renowned orchestra conductor and known Putin backer, prepares to perform at a state-backed music festival in southern Italy on 27 July despite mounting concern over his performance – though the region's governor supports the show. My likeness, not yours – The Danish presidency is set to push for EU-wide protection for people's identities, especially to prevent the usage of personal attributes in AI deepfake generation – the law would allow for citizens to require social media companies to take down AI images that imitate them. Out-of-prime minister runs again – French conservative Michel Barnier of Les Républicains, the EU's former chief Brexit negotiator and briefly serving French prime minister in 2024, has announced his candidacy in a September Paris parliamentary election following the annulment of a Macron-aligned candidate's 2024 victory.
