On Wednesday 16 July, the European Commission confirmed that it wanted to group most of its economic priorities under the second “competitiveness” pillar of the budget. With €589.6 billion earmarked, this pillar includes the famous ‘European Competitiveness Fund’, as well as the Erasmus+, Horizon Europe, ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ and civil protection programmes. On Wednesday 16 July, the European Commission put forward this proposal for the 2028–2032 Multiannual...