One year after the European Commission published its proposals for the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework, EU Member States remain at a deadlock: while the friends of cohesion want to preserve budget for historical EU Programmes, frugal states and net contributors want to cut the originally presented 2 trillion budget down significantly. JEF Europe calls on national governments to stop stalling and to open genuine negotiations on new Own Resources – meaning ways for the EU to raise its own income streams rather than depending solely on member states’ contributions for its budget ambition – for the EU’s long-term budget. 

 

The deadlock cannot continue

 

Faced with a budget that must fund Europe’s new strategic priorities – including defence, economic competitiveness, and technological sovereignty – while continuing to invest in its programmes in the field of youth, cohesion, agriculture, and the green transition, national governments are defaulting to the path of least political effort: cutting existing programmes rather than finding new revenues.

 

JEF Europe rejects this approach. A Union that sacrifices its Youth Policy to fund its defence ambitions, or dismantles its Cohesion Policy to invest in competitiveness, is a Union that is eating its own future. These choices will define the kind of Europe today’s young generation inherits.

 

The solution is on the table 

New Own Resources are not a new idea. They are the fiscally responsible, politically viable, and democratically sound answer to the EU’s funding challenge. Revenues collected directly by the EU through mechanisms such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, the Emissions Trading System, a digital levy on large platforms, or a levy on large corporate turnovers would give the Union a stable and autonomous revenue base. They would allow Member States to fund Europe’s new ambitions without forcing cuts to the programmes that define what Europe stands for in the lives of its citizens.

“There is something absurd about the current situation: Member States want more European ambition while demanding major budget cuts.You cannot ask for more and pay for less. We are asking frugal Member States to put money where their mouth is by unlocking new Own Resources, revenue the EU raises itself through taxation. JEF Europe believes the Union ultimately needs a far bigger budget to meet its challenges, but new Own Resources are the realistic, necessary step now and Member States hold the key to unlock it.” said Anna van de Moosdijk, JEF Europe Treasurer. 

The repayment of NextGenerationEU debt beginning in 2028 makes the case urgent. Without new Own Resources, that repayment will automatically compete for budget space with programmes covering research, regional development and youth. The window to act is now, and it is closing.

A shared responsibility 

Adopting new Own Resources requires unanimous agreement among all EU Member States. That unanimity requirement is too often invoked as an excuse for inaction. 

Will Member states unlock EU’s Ambition or let inaction unravel the EU’s ability to fund its own priorities? 

The European Commission put concrete proposals on the table in July 2025. The European Parliament has already adopted its position and supports the use of own resources. It is time for national governments to do the same.

JEF Europe calls on EU Member States to:

1. Support new own resources as part of the 2028–2034 MFF package and move forward with concrete proposals.
2. Reject any budget agreement that funds new EU priorities at the expense of the Erasmus+ programme, Cohesion Policy, or other foundational EU programmes.
3. Move Own Resources decisions to the ordinary legislative procedure, ending the disproportionate veto power of individual governments.

Europe’s young people are watching. They will not accept a Union that funds new ambitions at the expense of our Union’s core values that make the European integration worth believing in.

Unlock EU’s Ambition. Create new Own Resources. Now.

This press release is based on JEF Europe’s resolution: Towards a real Federal Budget, April 2025. URL: https://jef.eu/resolution/towards-a-real-federal-budget-2/ 

For media enquiries, please contact: Anna van de Moosdijk, anna.vandemoosdijk@jef.eu