The next few months for the European Commissioner for Budget, Piotr Serafin, will be devoted to preparing a proposal for a long-term budget for the European Union after 2027. To this end, on Monday 3 February, the Polish Commissioner embarked on a European tour to consult Member States, starting in Denmark. He will travel to Sweden on Tuesday.
These meetings with the national authorities of the Member States, regional players and the final beneficiaries of EU funds will enable Mr Serafin to gather suggestions for the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
Each visit will be an opportunity to discover EU-funded projects. In Søborg, Denmark, the European Commissioner visited EU-funded defence projects, including the Terma factory, which won the first European Defence Industry Development Programme project.
“We want the EU budget to serve European interests, including in the field of defence”, said Mr Serafin. The EU’s security and defence industry “plays a crucial role in ensuring Europe’s security in the face of external threats”, the European Commission highlighted.
In Lund, Sweden, on Tuesday 4 February, Mr Serafin will visit the ‘European Spallation Source’, a multi-disciplinary scientific research facility under construction that uses neutron diffraction techniques for research into materials, energy, health and the environment.
The EU must “consult”, “not work in isolation” and “show that its budget has served many people across the European Union up to now”, said Mr Serafin, as he felt there were “too many attacks on the EU budget”.
The aim of the European tour is to show the best of what the budget has achieved.
Discussions with Member States on the 2028-2034 MFF will take place at the informal meeting of European Affairs ministers in Warsaw on Tuesday 18 February, followed by the European Council meeting on 21 March (see EUROPE 13568/24).
In the European Parliament, Siegfried Mureșan (EPP, Romanian) and Carla Tavares (S&D, Portuguese) published their draft own-initiative report on the subject on Thursday 30 January (see EUROPE 13570/13). The Commission intends to publish its MFF proposal at the start of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU this summer. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)