During the October II plenary session, Parliament will amend the Council's position on the draft EU budget for 2027. The Committee on Budgets (BUDG) voted to reverse all reductions the Council applied to the Commission's draft budget (DB) and proposes targeted increases for Parliament's priorities by €1.17 billion above the original Commission's 2027 DB. It calls for financing the EU debt repayment without cutting into expenditure on programmes.
Background – 2027 budget procedure
The European Parliament is one of the two arms of the European Union's budgetary authority, the Council being the other. The two institutions, assisted by the European Commission, decide on the budget in the annual EU budget procedure, within the limits of the long-term EU budget – the multiannual financial framework (MFF). The Commission’s draft budget sets the 2027 European Union budget commitments at €199.9 billion and payments at €212 billion, including special instruments. On 4 September, the Council adopted its position on DB 2027, proposing to cut commitments by €1 billion and payments by €0.5 billion.
On 9 October, the Commission published Amending letter No 1/2027, lowering expenditure in DB 2027 by €365.3 million in commitments and by €426.8 million in payments.
On 5 October, BUDG adopted amendments to the Council's position with a broad majority, and on 12 October it adopted an explanatory motion for a resolution with 24 votes in favour, 8 against and 2 abstentions. BUDG sets the overall level of commitments at €194 billion and payments at €203.3 billion under MFF headings.
BUDG insists that 65 % of the European Union Recovery Instrument (EURI) cost overruns should be financed from the decommitment compartment of the EURI. BUDG calls for full mobilisation of the Ukraine Support Loan (USL) instrument at €1.1 billion, to cover the USL's borrowing costs. In both cases, BUDG argues for the liquidity management costs to be separated into new budget lines, fully financed by the EURI and USL instruments.
BUDG voted for funding increases to Parliament's priorities of €1.17 billion above the Commission's draft budget:
€376.7 million for Heading 1, inter alia for the Connecting Europe Facility (€260.5 million), Horizon Europe (€63 million) and the Single Market programme (€31.6 million);
€275.1 million for Subheading 2B, inter alia the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (€80 million), the EU4Health programme (€50 million) and Erasmus+ (€96 million);
€182.5 million for Heading 3, inter alia the European Agriculture Guarantee Fund (€85 million), support for young farmers (€20 million) and the LIFE programme (€85 million);
€72.9 million for Heading 4, in particular for the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI) (€40 million) and the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (€20 million);
€66.3 million for Heading 5, for example for Military Mobility (€20 million);
€139 million for Heading 6, in particular for Southern Neighbourhood (€60 million), Eastern Neighbourhood (€40 million) and humanitarian aid (€40 million);
€0.5 million for Heading 7 for the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
Next steps
On 21 October 2026, Parliament is due to adopt its position on the 2027 draft budget.
The first conciliation meeting is scheduled for 3 November 2026. The Conciliation Committee negotiations will last for 21 days until 16 November 2026.
