Negotiations for the next long-term European Union (EU) budget, the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), are now in a decisive phase. Heads of State and Government are currently reviewing a “negotiation box” proposed under the Cypriot Presidency, which foresees a ~2% reduction in the overall budget size compared to the European Commission’s (EC) initial 2025 proposal.
The European Council and the European Parliament are actively hammering out partial mandates and spending priorities for key areas like defence, cohesion policy, and migration. While the official goal is to reach a comprehensive political agreement by the end of 2026 to ensure uninterrupted funding by January 2028, EU Member States remain divided over the final budget size and allocations.
The MFF text, proposed by the European Commission (EC) in July 2025, was significant because it did not include health as a standalone policy area and removed the current EU4Health, which funds the European Reference Networks (ERNs), as a standalone, ring-fenced programme. Instead, the EC wants to fold health funding into the newly created, €451 billion European Competitiveness Fund (ECF). Under this model, health is grouped into a broader “Health, biotech, agriculture, and bioeconomy” window. ERNs fall under the health policy window.
The negotiations are moving ahead positively, though; the Council reached an agreement on 26 June 2026 on its partial negotiating position on the regulation and the specific programme of Horizon Europe, the tenth EU framework programme for research and innovation. Horizon Europe is a key element of the next MFF and is designed to drive scientific excellence, boost economic competitiveness, and tackle global societal challenges. In addition to the EC’s proposed substantial budget increase, the agreed Council position for Horizon Europe foresees a tight link with the EU’s competitiveness instrument in the next MFF, the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), to facilitate a seamless investment-support journey.
The Council position is ‘partial’ because it excludes financial and horizontal issues, which are still under discussion.
ERN eUROGEN will continue to follow these negotiations closely over the coming months, given their direct relevance to the future funding of the European Reference Networks. As the European Reference Network for Rare Uro-Recto-Genital Diseases and Complex Conditions, ERN eUROGEN depends on stable EU support to sustain its multidisciplinary work across member centres, and will keep members informed as the MFF process develops.
