This Wednesday, the 26th, the European Parliament gave the final ‘green light’ to the European Union (EU) budget for 2026, after approval from Member States two days ago, with a total commitment of 192.8 billion euros expected.
In the plenary session, in the French city of Strasbourg, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, signed the EU budget for 2026, after its final adoption in the hemicycle with 419 votes in favor, 185 against and 53 abstentions.
“For next year’s budget, Parliament guaranteed more support for research, cross-border infrastructure, border management, climate action and foreign policy”, highlights the European assembly in a statement.
The final adoption comes after, on Monday, the EU Council (in which Member States are represented) approved the annual European budget for 2026 after negotiations with the European Parliament.
Total commitments (total commitment limit) are set at 192.8 billion euros and total payments (real cash flow for the year) at 190.1 billion euros.
In the European budget, commitments are the maximum amount that the Union can commit to spending on programs and projects, while payments represent the money actually paid during the year.
Today’s endorsement also takes into account an amount of 715.7 million euros as a margin below the maximum spending limits of commitments under the current Multiannual Financial Framework to allow the EU to react to unforeseen circumstances, according to the EU Council.
This is the sixth annual budget under the EU’s long-term budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027.
More than 93% of the EU budget directly funds programs that support people and projects in Member States.