Aruanne - COM(2026) 344

EN EN

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 25.6.2026 COM(2026) 344 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND

THE COUNCIL

on the follow-up to the discharge for the 2024 financial year

EN EN

Report on the follow-up to the requests made by the European Parliament in its discharge resolutions and the Council in its discharge recommendation for

the financial year 2024

Contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

2. Budget delivering on its objectives ..................................................................................................................................... 1

3. Protecting the EU’s financial interests .............................................................................................................................. 3

4. Transparency ................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

5. Sustainability of debt .............................................................................................................................................................. 12

6. Looking ahead ............................................................................................................................................................................. 12

EN EN

1. Introduction On 29 April 2026, following the recommendation by the Council, the European Parliament

granted discharge to the Commission for its implementation of the EU budget in 2024.

This report summarises the major actions taken by the Commission in response to the

main requests made by: (i) the European Parliament in its discharge resolution1, and (ii)

the Council in its recommendation on the discharge2. The Commission will provide replies

to specific requests later this year.

2. Budget delivering on its objectives In 2024, the EU budget was vital in helping the EU deliver on policy priorities. As set out in

the Annual Management and Performance Report for the EU budget – 2024 financial year3,

the EU budget contributed to strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion,

supporting farmers and improving agricultural productivity. It supported the green and

digital transitions and the strengthening of the EU’s external borders and defence

capabilities, helped address migration pressures, provided unwavering support to Ukraine,

and helped the EU respond to the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.

The EU budget was key in boosting the EU’s competitiveness, bolstering economic security

(e.g. by investing in clean technologies, human capital and cross-border infrastructure to

strengthen regional development and the single market), and underpinning the EU’s

strategic partnerships worldwide.

a. Budgetary implementation

Parliament is concerned about the implementation rate for the EU budget under the

current Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and for the Recovery and Resilience Facility

(RRF). It notes that delays in implementation increase risks of decommitments and

pressure towards the end of the programming period.

The Commission stresses that amounts committed but not yet paid from the EU budget, i.e.

outstanding commitments or RAL (‘reste à liquider’), were EUR 35 billion lower at the end

of 2024 than at the end of 2023. Almost half of the RAL at the end of 2024 (excluding

1 European Parliament decision of 29 April 2026 on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024, Section III – Commission and executive agencies and the ninth, tenth and eleventh European Development Funds - 2025/2145(DEC).

2 Council recommendation on the discharge to be given to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for financial year 2024 (5749/26).

3 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament the Council and the Court of Auditors Annual Management and Performance Report for the EU budget – 2024 financial year, COM(2025) 824 of 17.6.2025.

EN EN

RAL from NextGenerationEU - NGEU) is linked to cohesion policy, and thus to the Member

States’ implementation of funds under shared management. With project selection on the

ground rising from approx. 12% at the end of 2023 to approx. 37% (2024) and approx.

65% (2025) of the available envelopes for the 2021-2027 cohesion programmes, financial

implementation accelerated significantly, with many Member States submitting payment

applications going well beyond their N+3 decommitment target. Thanks to this positive

evolution, project selection and payments have been catching up compared to 2014-2020.

To ensure a smooth delivery, the Commission supports Member States in strengthening

their administrative capacity and addressing bottlenecks in investments.

The Commission will continue to closely follow the implementation of EU programmes and

instruments. It publishes information annually on the budget implementation forecast and

a progress report on outstanding commitments.

As to the NextGenerationEU RAL, many Member States revised their national Recovery and

Resilience Plans (RRPs), reallocated resources to mature projects, adjusted milestones and

targets and addressed implementation bottlenecks, while maintaining the ambition of the

RRPs. Those revisions aimed at reflecting changing circumstances and improving

deliverability, focusing on a timely conclusion of payments under the RRF by the end of

2026. On 30 April 2026, the Commission adopted guidelines for Member States on

operational aspects related to the final phase and closure of the RRF to ensure its

successful conclusion.

To some extent, Member States may have prioritised the implementation and revision of

their RRPs, which may have led to delays in the implementation of the cohesion policy

programmes. At the same time, measures supported under the RRF help accelerate the

implementation of MFF funds, e.g. the RRF reforms aimed at speeding up the permit-

granting procedures are expected to have positive spill-over effects on the implementation

of investment measures of other EU funds.

b. Addressing new priorities: defence and Ukraine

The Commission welcomes Parliament’s view that ‘defence and support for Ukraine must

be treated as the budgetary priority in the current geopolitical context and that adequate

resources should be allocated to meet this objective’4.

The Commission is committed to strengthening the EU’s defence capabilities. It has

proposed several initiatives to boost defence readiness and investment, including (i) up to

EUR 150 billion in loans for Member States backed by the EU budget under the Security

Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument, (ii) the White Paper for European Defence Readiness

2030, (iii) the ReArm Europe plan, and (iv) the defence readiness omnibus simplification.

From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the end of 2024, the EU’s unwavering commitment to

Ukraine led to the mobilisation of EUR 130.2 billion for financial, economic, humanitarian,

4 See paragraph 17 – 2025/2145(DEC).

EN EN

military and diplomatic support. In February 2024, the Ukraine Facility was created to

support Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction and modernisation. To address Ukraine’s

financing needs for 2026-2027, the Ukraine Support Loan, providing up to EUR 90 billion in

2026-2027 and financed by EU borrowing on capital markets, was

adopted in February 2026.

c. Climate and biodiversity impact of EU funding

The Commission notes the European Court of Auditors’ (ECA) observations on

‘shortcomings in the Commission’s methodology for estimating the climate effects of

Union spending’5 and Parliament’s statement ‘that the current methodologies for tracking

climate and biodiversity expenditure do not fully capture all effects of Union activities’6.

The Commission aims to measure EU budget contributions and results related to climate

action and biodiversity in line with the current performance framework. For the RRF, the

common agricultural policy, and cohesion policy, it is obliged to apply the methodology and

specific coefficients set out in the respective basic acts establishing these programmes. For

the 2028-2034 MFF, the Commission has proposed a streamlined system to monitor EU

spending and results related to climate and environmental objectives.

3. Protecting the EU’s financial interests The Commission attaches the utmost importance to monitoring the use of EU funds, in

cooperation with national authorities and other implementing partners.

a. Spending in line with EU values, including the rule of law

Rule of law

Parliament invites the Commission to make full and consistent use of the available

instruments to suspend or protect EU funding where rule of law deficiencies affect sound

financial management in the Member States concerned, particularly in Hungary and

Slovakia.

Under the Conditionality Regulation, the Commission proactively monitors the situation in

all Member States to identify breaches of rule of law principles falling within the scope of

this Regulation as early as possible. The Commission fully uses all available sectoral and

general legal instruments to address breaches of rule of law principles in Member States,

affecting or seriously risking the sound financial management of the EU budget or the

protection of the EU’s financial interests in a sufficiently direct way.

5 See paragraph 13 – 2025/2145(DEC).

6 Ibid.

EN EN

Hungary has been subject to measures under the Conditionality Regulation to protect the

EU budget since 2022, including: (i) the suspension of 55% of budgetary commitments

from three cohesion programmes, and (ii) a prohibition on entering into new legal

commitments for EU funding under direct and indirect management with ‘Public Interest

Trusts’ and entities maintained by them.

In addition to the Conditionality Regulation, the Commission has at its disposal other key

instruments to protect the EU budget, particularly: (i) the horizontal enabling condition on

the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights under the Common Provisions Regulation, and (ii)

the milestones and targets addressing rule of law challenges under RPPs.

In the next MFF, respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights remains a must – the

Conditionality Regulation will continue to apply to all funds. The National and Regional

Partnership Plans (NRPPs) as proposed by the Commission allow for financial support for

measures to strengthen the rule of law and fundamental rights while applying horizontal

conditions to ensure the EU budget is protected against breaches to the principles of the

Rule of Law and the Charter. If a breach remains unresolved after a year, the affected

funds may be redeployed to programmes under direct or indirect management, in

particular those supporting democracy, civil society, or anti-corruption efforts, under the

annual budgetary procedure and subject to approval by the Parliament and Council.

Moreover, to receive EU funding, Member States must establish mechanisms to ensure

continued payments to beneficiaries even if EU funding is suspended. These safeguards

form a core part of their management and control systems.

EU values

The Commission notes Parliament’s call for a ‘risk-based verification of recipients’

compliance with EU values, in order to detect potential breaches’7. Under the Financial

Regulation, the Commission monitors all stages of its contract management to ensure that

organisations and projects incompatible with EU values receive no support. All EU funding

beneficiaries must contractually commit to, and ensure respect for, the values on which the

EU is founded when using resources of the Union budget. Non-compliance with this

obligation may lead to a reduction of funds, suspension, or termination of the grant

agreement, and/or administrative measures (e.g. exclusion or financial penalties) in the

context of the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES). Lastly, ex post mechanisms

under the Financial Regulation safeguard the proper use of EU funds where controls or

audits reveal a breach of obligations.

EDES applies to persons and entities, including economic operators and organisations,

applying or receiving funds in direct and indirect management). The EDES exclusion

grounds provide a broad framework to address professional or ethical misconduct,

including incitement to hatred, discrimination, and other serious breaches of EU values.

Checks of the EDES Database are performed by all authorizing officers at the stage of the

7 See paragraph 161(xxii) – 2025/2145(DEC).

EN EN

evaluation process. To further strengthen oversight, the Commission will explore the

possibility of including EU values compliance indicators in the Arachne+ risk tool, pending

technical and legal feasibility.

Conflicts of interest

Parliament calls on the Commission to ensure that ‘no Union funds are paid, directly or

indirectly, to beneficiaries, including those related to members of the European Council,

where a conflict of interest has been identified and has not been demonstrably and

verifiably resolved’8, and underlines that Member States should ensure transparency as a

safeguard against conflicts of interest.

The Commission stresses that all Member States must respect the provisions of the EU

Treaties and the legislation based on them, including provisions for the appropriate

management of conflicts of interest at all levels, particularly Article 61 of the Financial

Regulation.

b. Protecting the EU budget from fraudsters

Revenue side

In its 2024 Annual Report, the ECA provided a clean opinion on the revenue of the EU

budget, reaffirming the stability and accuracy of revenue collection by the Commission.

Parliament ‘commends the efforts of the EPPO [European Public Prosecutor’s Office] and

OLAF [the European Anti-Fraud Office] to combat the organised exploitation of weaknesses

in Union customs controls’9 and points out that ‘the problems with customs duties being

incorrectly declared or not declared at all (the ‘customs gap’) lead to a shortfall in collected

import duties, which has been a persistent problem for many years for the EU and for its

Member States’10.

The Commission welcomes the agreement between Parliament and the Council on the EU

Customs Union reform of 26 March 2026. It responds to the current pressures under which

EU Customs operates, such as a huge increase in trade volumes, especially in e-commerce,

a fast-growing number of EU standards to be checked at the border, and shifting

geopolitical realities and crises. With the creation of the EU Customs Authority and the EU

Customs Data Hub, this reform will contribute to better, data-driven customs policy

coordination, notably via an improved EU coordinated risk management framework.

8 See paragraph 21(v) – 2025/2145(DEC).

9 See paragraph 55 – 2025/2145(DEC).

10 See paragraph 51 – 2025/2145(DEC).

EN EN

Anti-fraud architecture (AFA)

Parliament expressed concern over insufficient coordination and information-sharing

between EU and national anti-fraud bodies. On 16 July 2025, the Commission published a

White Paper for the Anti-fraud Architecture Review outlining the need to strengthen the

protection of the EU’s financial interests. It underlines the crucial role and continuous

engagement of all AFA actors and complements the Commission’s proposal for the next

MFF. One of the main objectives is to enhance cooperation between the key AFA actors –

the EPPO, OLAF, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol),

the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), and the Anti-Money

Laundering Authority. The White Paper also explores how to create a more integrated

system and optimise the use of resources by leveraging new technologies, sharing data,

and looking at the complementarity of functions of the actors.

The AFA Review is conducted in the broader context of the revision of the Europol and

Eurojust Regulations and the ongoing evaluations of the legal acts of OLAF and the EPPO

and of the Directive on the fight against fraud to the Union's financial interests by means

of criminal law (PIF Directive)11. The Commission will present the results in a

communication, scheduled for the end of 2026, possibly accompanied by legislative

proposals.

Improving recoveries is another main objective of the review. The Commission continues to

pursue, via annual monitoring exercises conducted by OLAF, a reinforced follow-up on the

implementation of OLAF financial recommendations (until their final outcome) and of EPPO

notifications with financial impact. The Commission is looking at further developing the

annual report on the protection of the EU’s financial interests and the fight against fraud

(PIF Report) to include additional information and data on recoveries.

Budgetary reinforcement of the EPPO and OLAF

The Commission notes Parliament’s repeated calls for reinforced capacities for the EPPO

and OLAF and to strengthen cooperation between them.

The EPPO’s creation in 2017 impacted OLAF’s staffing levels due to synergies and

efficiencies between the two services. As per the original Legislative Financial Statement,

the EPPO was to operate under stable staffing with 115 full-time equivalents as of 2023.

However, it received higher contributions and staff allocations than originally planned every

year since its creation. Additional resources were added in duly justified cases during the

process of adopting the annual budgets and, for extraordinary needs, during the year via

amending budgets. In 2024-2026, the EPPO received more reinforcements to account for

Poland’s and Sweden’s participation, increased salary and housing costs, its independent IT

architecture, and additional European Delegated Prosecutors and Seconded National

Experts.

11 Directive (EU) 2017/1371.

EN EN

Taking into account OLAF’s experience in the conduct of administrative investigations and

the objective of avoiding the duplication of administrative and criminal investigations, up to

45 posts and credits for external staff were transferred to EPPO. Over the period 2019-

2027, when considering both transfers to EPPO and reinforcements to OLAF via the

Commission allocation procedures, the staff (posts and external staff) of OLAF will have

decreased by 38.

OLAF cooperates intensively with the EPPO under their respective regulations and working

arrangements, under which OLAF reports any suspicions of crime that might fall under the

EPPO’s remit, and duplication of investigations is avoided by means of a cross-checking

mechanism. OLAF can also assist EPPO investigations by conducting complementary

administrative investigations and support the EPPO where necessary.

Following the ECA’s recommendation in its Special Report 26/2025, and building on the

AFA review, the Commission will assess the arrangements required for the creation and

governance of a common repository of fraud allegations to improve information-sharing

between OLAF and the EPPO.

c. Level of error and control systems

Preventive and corrective measures

The Commission implements multiannual control strategies to safeguard EU funds, where

errors or weaknesses are detected through its controls, this results in preventive measures,

(i.e., corrections, interruptions or suspensions before Commission’s payments take place)

and corrective measures (i.e., corrections after the payments take place) up to programme

closure. Under shared management, Member States conduct controls to detect and recover

unduly paid amounts. Deficiencies identified in the national management and control

systems may trigger financial corrections. In 2024, Commission efforts, together with

those of Member States in shared management, led to the recovery of EUR 2.66 billion

(EUR 1.18 billion preventive, EUR 1.48 billion corrective), primarily in cohesion and

agricultural policies.

Actions to reduce the level of error

Parliament and the Council welcome the decrease in the overall error rate, but consider it is

still too high, particularly in cohesion policy. The Commission notes all errors reported by

the ECA and duly follows up all cases where it has a legal basis to act, working with the

Member States and implementing partners, requesting financial corrections where relevant

and the necessary remedial actions to further improve management and control systems.

Cohesion policy

The Commission welcomes the decrease in the ECA’s estimated error rate for cohesion

policy expenditure compared to 2023 and 2022, and notes that the difference in the

assessment of the error level by the Commission (as reported in its annual activity reports)

and the ECA has further converged.

EN EN

To foster a common understanding of methodologies, the Commission has enhanced its

dialogue with the ECA via dedicated workshops. In 2025, they focused on quantifying

public procurement irregularities in cohesion expenditure according to the Commission’s

quantification grid (that the ECA will use as of the 2025 statement of assurance audit).

Throughout 2025, the Commission closely monitored the implementation of the action plan

agreed in 2024 with audit authorities aiming to strengthen their detection capacity:

progress is reported in several areas, including analysing root causes of errors, sharing

results with the authorities managing the programmes, updating and upgrading audit

checklists to ensure their completeness and coherence, and making better use of various

databases to support audit work.

In parallel, recognising that the complexity of implementation arrangements can contribute

to the risk of error, the Commission actively promotes the use of simplified cost options

and schemes that involve financing not linked to costs.

Common agricultural policy (CAP)

The Commission made significant progress in simplifying rules and preventing errors via

the efficient use of available information. The 2023-2027 CAP delivery model allows

Member States to tailor interventions to their needs. For example, the Commission

supports Member States in the design and implementation of eco-schemes and

encourages the use of simplified cost options.

The use of new technologies (like the Area Monitoring System, Copernicus Sentinel data

and Artificial Intelligence) helps prevent and detect errors in the CAP. The Commission

continues to provide support to Member States in addressing and preventing errors by

providing guidance, fostering capacity building, exchange of best practices, and monitoring

the quality of the Integrated Administration and Control System.

Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)

There is a robust control and audit system in place for the RRF. It includes an updated audit

methodology for (i) protecting the EU’s financial interests, (ii) reinforcing controls on

Member States’ internal control systems in State aid and public procurement, and

(iii) strengthening cooperation within the Commission.

Revisions of national Recovery and Resilience Plans considered previous implementation

experience and recommendations from the ECA, Parliament and Council, aiming to reduce

differences in the interpretation of EU legislation by the ECA and the Commission. The

Commission proposed removing any ambiguous or unnecessary language from the Council

implementing decisions, so they only contain essential requirements for demonstrating the

fulfilment of a measure.

EN EN

The Commission agrees with the Council’s caution against ‘new rules, contradictory

requirements or more restrictive conditions imposed on member states ex-post’12 during

implementation. Changing guidance on the interpretation of legal concepts in the last year

of the instrument’s implementation would cause new legal and practical issues for

Member States.

Horizon Europe

The Commission continued to refine its approach to the implementation of lump sums

under Horizon Europe, considering feedback from past pilots, the ECA, and continuing

stakeholder engagement as part of its assessment of projects using lump-sum funding.

This allows the Commission to maximise the simplification potential for beneficiaries while

focusing controls on beneficiaries’ implementation of funded projects in line with the

agreed deliverables.

External action

The Commission accepted the ECA’s recommendations and is following up on its findings.

As regards the question of whether the Commission’s implementing partners should grant

ECA auditors full access to documents, the Commission constantly facilitates exchanges

between the relevant entities and the ECA in order to find appropriate solutions.

European Development Fund

Parliament notes with concern that the estimated level of error in 2024 is 6.5% (8.9% in

2023). To reduce errors related to the clearing of pre-financing, the Commission has

requested its partners to review their reporting templates to make it easier to identify the

expenditure incurred.

The Commission also reviewed its control strategy and started implementing key

recommendations, including by developing a risk profiling dashboard to (i) measure

partners’ compliance with financial and operational standards and access to documents,

(ii) strengthen ex post controls and (iii) improve reporting to the Commission by pillar-

assessed organisations.

4. Transparency The Commission is committed to ensuring a high level of transparency of EU funding by

providing extensive publication of funding data in the Financial Transparency System and

the Funding and Tenders Portal. In the future, the new Single Gateway portal will provide

even more transparency.

12 See paragraph 11.4 of the Council’s discharge recommendation.

EN EN

a. Transparency of EU funding

With transparency as a guiding principle, the Commission goes beyond the applicable legal

requirements and applies the highest transparency standards among international

organisations, helping to demonstrate results achieved with EU funding.

In line with the discharge resolution, calling the Commission to ensure that all grant

agreements, including operating grants, respect the necessary requirements related to

transparency, traceability and visibility of fund13, the Commission notes that information on

the objectives and results of projects implemented by NGOs (including advocacy activities)

is already public on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. In addition, interest representatives

that register in the Transparency Register as not representing commercial interests

(typically including NGOs) must report their lobbying activities, declare their main sources

of funding, and disclose each contribution above EUR 10 000 that exceeds 10% of their

total budget, including the contributor’s name. The Commission’s proposed Performance

Regulation for the 2028-2034 MFF standardises result indicators, which will further

improve transparency, as will the planned centralising and expanding of the information

available in the future Single Gateway provided for in that Regulation. The Commission

reiterates its support for civil society organisations, including through operating grants

within the current programming period, in line with the EU Strategy for Civil Society, that

recognizes the need for adequate, sustainable and transparent funding for civil society.

The Commission has been cooperating with Parliament in the framework of the Budgetary

Control Committee’s Scrutiny Working Group on the funding of NGOs and other entities,

and has provided all requested documentation, while respecting the applicable legal

framework to protect confidential information.

On transparency under the RRF, the Commission agrees that ‘full and reliable information

on the final recipients is essential in order to prevent misuse of funds, detect fraud and

ensure equal standards of accountability across all Member States’14and notes that

Parliament ‘will consider all appropriate measures within its prerogatives to ensure

compliance, including legal action’15. The Commission points out that it is obliged to

implement the instrument as agreed by the co-legislators, including the legal provisions on

final recipient reporting, and considers that it has applied these provisions consistently and

soundly, in the light of the conditions and legal definitions set by the RRF Regulation.

In the discharge procedure, the Commission has highlighted the efforts made to ensure

Member States comply with, and go beyond, their obligations. The Commission will

continue to strongly encourage Member States to provide additional data and will apply the

instruments at its disposal if they fail to comply with the Regulation’s legal requirements.

13 See paragraph 161(xxi) – 2025/2145(DEC)

14 See paragraph 278 - 2025/2145(DEC)

15 See paragraph 6 - 2025/2145(DEC).

EN EN

As from the next MFF, the Commission proposals provide for publishing information on

recipients of EU funding under all management modes on the centralised website ‘Single

Gateway’ (including the enhanced Financial Transparency System)16. Under the Commission

proposal for the NRPPs, information on beneficiaries, final recipients, contractors, and sub-

contractors will be published both at national and EU level in the Single Gateway17.

b. The Commission’s own transparency and accountability

The Commission upholds the highest transparency standards across its activities and

decision-making. Commission staff are subject to rules on records management and

archives, and security recommendations for the acceptable use of public instant messaging

applications and any other corporate communication tool. In this regard, the Commission

ensures compliance with the EU’s rules on public access to documents, including text

messages (registration of work-related communications).

Senior officials, like all staff, are bound by the obligations of the Staff Regulations,

including on ethics and integrity (e.g. ad hoc conflicts-of-interest declarations, spouse

employment declarations, or requests for approval of outside activities). The Commission

provides information, training and advice on ethics matters to support staff and managers

in meeting their obligations. Transparency Register obligations apply to all managers, who

must disclose their meetings with interest representatives listed in the Register.

The names and mandates of Special Advisers attached to each Member of the Commission

are publicly available on the Commission website.

The Commission takes note of Parliament’s concerns regarding the functioning and

effectiveness of the formal harassment procedure. Under the auspices of the Chief

Confidential Counsellor, the Commission will involve independent experts as a complement

to the review already launched by the Commission on the implementation of its anti-

harassment policy18. More broadly, the Commission will continue its efforts to ensure a

safe environment for reporting, including by strengthening awareness, accessibility, and

trust in the available channels, and, in the context of the ongoing review of the

Whistleblowing Guidelines, will seek to align them as closely as possible with the standards

set out in Directive (EU) 2019/1937.

16 Article 12 - COM/2025/545 final.

17 Articles 63 and 64 - COM/2025/565 final.

18 Commission Decision of 12.12.2023 C(2023)8630

EN EN

5. Sustainability of debt The Commission agrees that ‘the sustainability of Union debt must be factored into all

future budgetary decisions’19. The timeline for debt repayment related to non-repayable

support under NextGenerationEU runs until 2058, giving the EU an extended period to

manage repayments without significant disruptions or compromising financial stability.

Pursuant to Article 256 of the Financial Regulation, the Commission issues an annual

report assessing the sustainability of contingent liabilities and EU budget headroom,

supporting the monitoring of budgetary sustainability.

The Commission welcomes Parliament’s endorsement of its proposals for new own

resources and agrees that ‘the development of genuine new own resources is essential to

prevent debt servicing costs from crowding out priorities under future multiannual financial

frameworks’20. Introducing new own resources requires political will and engagement from

all sides. The Commission proposals include a fixed annual debt service amount.

NextGenerationEU repayment will be kept under the ceilings of the financial framework.

Interest rate risk will be very limited as of 2028, as there will be no new net issuance after

2026, and the annual fixed debt service amount ensures full predictability.

6. Looking ahead In July 2025, the Commission presented its proposal for an ambitious, agile and forward-

looking 2028-2034 MFF. It builds on the strengths and fundamental principles of the

current framework, and the lessons learned from it, while making it simpler, more flexible

and more impactful21, and takes into account recommendations from Parliament, the

Council and the ECA in the context of the discharge.

Robust governance, transparency, and strong political oversight are integral to every part

of these proposals. The Commission is working closely with Parliament and the Council to

achieve an ambitious, balanced, and timely agreement on the next MFF and sectoral

programmes.

* * *

19 See paragraph 7 - 2025/2145(DEC).

20 See paragraph 47 - 2025/2145(DEC).

21 See COM(2025) 570 final.