23 recommendations on the EU budget
On 18 May 2025, a randomly selected Citizens' Panel decided on 23 recommendations on the design of the European Union's next long-term budget. From March to May, the members of the mini-public had discussed the topic in three meetings.
What is the long-term EU budget?
The long-term EU budget determines for several years how much money will flow into the EU budget and what it will be spent on. The current long-term budget runs from 2021 to 2027 and amounts to €1.2 trillion, which is roughly equivalent to one per cent of the EU's gross domestic product.
Gross domestic product is the total value of all goods and services produced as end products within the borders of an economy during an economic year. The EU budget also includes around 800 billion euros from NextGenerationEU, the temporary instrument for recovery from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The EU budget is used to fund projects and measures for the social and economic development of European regions. Farmers in rural regions are supported, the environment is protected and climate change is combated. Other examples include promoting the digital transformation of society as well as research and innovation.
New approach for modern EU budget
The Commissions initial proposal for the next EU long-term budget is available since 12 February 2025. EU countries, businesses and citizens need to reconsider the way the EU budget works to make it fit for the future, the EU Commission says. To continue to support a free, democratic, secure, prosperous and competitive Europe, the long-term budget needs to be simpler, more impactful, and more targeted.
The new approach for a modern EU budget should include:
- A plan for each country: The new approach to a modern EU budget should include a plan for each country with key reforms and investments, designed and implemented in co-operation with national, regional and local authorities.
- European Competitiveness Fund: This fund should create investment capacity to support strategic sectors and critical technologies.
- Funding for external action: a reorganised funding for external action should be more effective, targeted and focused on strategic interests and contribute to a new foreign policy.
- Protecting the rule of law: The budget should also include additional safeguards to protect the rule of law. In addition, the EU budget should be able to draw on modernised revenues to ensure sufficient and sustainable funding for our common priorities.
Limited financial resources
Because the EU budget only has limited financial resources, the participants in the Citizens' Panel focused on two questions:
- On what priorities should the EU budget be spent in the future?
- Which types of activities should the EU budget support to help deliver on those priorities?
Strategic planning, sustainability and resilience
The Citizens' Panel report states: "For us it is essential, that the new European budget helps to prepare for the future of the EU, its Member States, and its citizens. Strategic planning and actions that ensure long-term sustainability and resilience are crucial. This involves investing in education, innovation, security, defence, environment, infrastructure, health care and communication to build a robust foundation for future generations.
To this end, the forum members believe that an adequately resourced EU budget should strengthen common values, ensure solidarity between Member States, reduce inequality, take climate and environmental concerns into account and strengthen competitiveness. The budget should also enable swift and flexible action, include transparency and accountability, promote decentralisation, improve communication and citizen participation, serve the interests of the EU, its member states and citizens, and ensure the feasibility of measures.
23 Recommendations
The recommendations of the Citizens' Panel for the European Union
Guiding Recommendation: Prioritising a strong future-ready EU Budget
'We, the European Citizens' Panel on a new European budget fit for our ambitions, composed of 150 randomly selected citizens, from the 27 EU Member States, recommend that the new EU budget prioritises the future of all European citizens by focusing on short and long-term sustainability, strategic action, and shared values.
Over three weekends of discussions, we identified key principles to guide the next EU budget. The budget must reflect the collective ambitions of a fair, inclusive, sovereign, secure, sustainable, and prosperous Europe that is deeply connected to its people. We call for a budget that is both future- oriented and responsive to immediate needs, while remaining transparent, efficient, and impactful.'
To achieve this, the Citizens' Panel recommends
- Ensuring environmental protection and economic success at the same time
- Protecting nature and natural resources through environmental education and other measures
- Reducing regional disparities by expanding essential infrastructure and services
- Combating rural exodus through education, jobs and housing
- Meaningful and sustainable inclusion of migrants and refugees for a stronger Europe
- Budget support for equal access to healthcare, pharmaceutical production and cross-border healthcare in the EU
- Support for mental health for all age groups through integrated measures from the EU budget
- A strong and secure EU against digital threats
- A more independent EU in the defence sector
- The opportunity for all young people to enter the labour market under fair and decent working conditions
- Support for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups
- Strengthening the food system by making large food companies more sustainable and supporting small producers
- Empowering people to use digital technologies, including AI
- Sovereignty for the EU in the field of digital technologies
- Promoting inclusive, high-quality education for all through targeted EU support
- Promoting a shared European identity through education and awareness-raising
- Simplifying, harmonising and digitising administrative procedures in Member States
- Strengthening the links between citizens and the EU for a better future
- Developing renewable energy to secure our energy sovereignty
- Strategic strength: Europe's industrial response to global disruption
- Strengthening the EU's diplomatic alignment through shared values
- A holistic diplomatic EU plan
The European Commission welcomed the results of the Citizens' Panel, which were presented at the Commission's budget meeting on 20 May 2025. The contributions from the mini-public and the accompanying platform for citizen engagement will be included as an annex to the legislative proposal in the proposal for the next multiannual financial framework. They will therefore be examined by the College of Commissioners and ultimately by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union during the negotiations on the next multiannual financial framework.
Online participation
In parallel with the Citizens' Panel, the European Commission called on all Europeans to express their views on the next budget and the measures to be supported before it submits a formal proposal in July 2025. It had launched a series of online participations that ran for twelve weeks from February to May 2025.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: ‘The next long-term budget will strengthen our Union's shared vision for the future. It translates our common priorities into concrete actions that will make a difference for millions of citizens, businesses, regions and researchers. That is why we are inviting all Europeans to have their say through public consultations, a citizens‘ panel or the Citizens’ Participation Platform. This is an invitation to shape a modern, ambitious and strengthened budget. Our challenges are also common goals: Together we are stronger."
Door-to-door approach for recruiting panellists
In February 2025, the European Commission had launched a campaign in all 27 EU Member States to recruit participants for a citizens' forum on the new EU budget.
The recruitment was conducted using a door-to-door approach and is managed by the Sortition Foundation, the official partner of the European Commission. In this door-knocking lottery procedure, the Sortition Foundation cooperated with its partner organisations in the SORT-EU network. The network connects more than 30 organisations within the European Union that have agreed to work together on transnational and other democratic lotteries.
150 participants randomly selected
Ultimately, out of all registered citizens 150 were randomly selected to represent EU demographic diversity and invited to come to Brussels. There they worked together to formulate concrete recommendations on a new long-term EU budget 'fit for our ambition'. The panel debate was accompanied by an online platform offering everyone the opportunity to take part.
The panel took place over 3 weekends in spring 2025, from Friday - Sunday:
- 1st weekend: 28 - 30 March in Brussels
- 2nd weekend: 25 - 27 April online
- 3rd weekend: 16 - 18 May in Brussels
Next long-term budet takes effect in 2028
The EU budget must be adopted unanimously by all member states and by a majority of the European Parliament. Once agreed later in 2025, the next long-term budget will take effect in January 2028.