France has its position on the EU’s next long-term budget. The document, dated 4 March, published by Agence Europe, sets out its priorities, from competitiveness to defence, in line with the principle of European preference.
An ambitious budget. France is introducing the adoption of new own resources as a “sine qua non condition for an agreement on the next multiannual financial framework” (MFF) post-2027. As a result, the MFF will have to “be financed by new own resources” in order to meet the political challenges that will weigh on the budget, while at the same time repaying the NextGenerationEU programme.
France is counting on the establishment of a second package of new own resources (NORs) by 1 January 2026, while a first package of three NORs has been blocked in the EU Council since 2023. These resources should then be used “by 2028 at the latest for the repayment of NextGenerationEU”. The question of NORs “has now become a political one”.
Political priorities. An increase in the EU’s long-term budget would make it possible to complete the “competitiveness, security and sovereignty agenda” championed by France. “Faced with (...) the risk of falling behind (...) economically and industrially”, the French authorities have “prosperity” as their compass. A “public and private ‘investment shock’”, as advocated in the Draghi report, must be implemented in the areas of defence, research, energy, health, digital technology, critical raw materials and food.
The response to the security challenge will also have to play a central role “in a tense geopolitical context marked by the war in Ukraine and by the increasing questioning of an international order based on the rule of law”. France warned on 4 March that support for the ‘White Paper on defence’ was dependent on funding focused on developing the European defence technological and industrial base. Ultimately, these investments should strengthen European sovereignty and strategic autonomy.
A market and values to defend. As a result of the deteriorating relations with the US administration, the EU budget will have to “guarantee a European preference in the administration of funding”, within the ‘Competitiveness Fund’, but also in defence-related investments.
A more original part of the French position paper is devoted to “challenges of promoting the values of the Union and European citizenship”.
Faced with increasing foreign interference from Russia and the United States, France wants the EU budget to help “strengthen the sense of belonging to the EU and European citizenship”. The aim is to “reinforce the EU’s democratic values”.
This would involve freedom of creation and cultural diversity, freedom of expression and information, access to justice and equality before the law, freedom of the press and media pluralism, protection of cultural heritage and the free movement for artists. France is calling for “support for the cultural, audiovisual and media sectors”, which are considered “crucial for (...) democracy and the rule of law”. This symbolic appeal will not make these sectors the best resourced.
On the architecture of the post-2027 MFF. The structure of the post-2027 MFF is likely to undergo a complete reorganisation, as confirmed by a European Commission working document on the new breakdown of programmes (see EUROPE 13598/5).
France sees the proposal to create 27 national plans as a way of giving Member States greater flexibility in managing their spending (see EUROPE 13577/20).
This would make it easier for them to benefit from the “budgetary reactivity required to finance unforeseen expenditure” in the event of a crisis. The mid-term review, as carried out under the 2021-2027 MFF, has been ruled out by the French.
Insofar as this structural revolution in the MFF raises a number of questions, France has issued a number of warnings. In favour of a performance-based budget, where the principle of ‘money for reforms’ should ensure that European priorities are achieved, France has specified that this architecture should ensure “greater transparency in the (...) use of (...) funds”, but also “more effective implementation”, and therefore monitoring.
France has proposed introducing “minimum spending thresholds” in order to “direct spending towards the Union’s main priorities”. The thresholds, cross-cutting (“the share of the plan’s expenditure dedicated to the ecological transition”) or thematic, could be adjusted according to the priorities of each Member State.
The EU would have the possibility of suspending part of the payments in the event of non-compliance with priorities in an area. The ceiling on this suspension would depend on the importance of the area in the overall plan.
See the French position: https://aeur.eu/f/fxd
See the positions of Spain and Estonia: https://aeur.eu/f/fxe (Original version in French by Florent Servia)