Negotiations on EU budget for 2026 concluded – Volt-MEP Kai Tegethoff:
"Outcome reflects clear priorities"
Negotiators reached a political agreement last night on the European Union’s budget for 2026 — the penultimate year of the current Multiannual Financial Framework (2021–2027). The final deal sets the total EU budget at €192.7 billion in commitments and €190 billion in payments, leaving €715.7 million below the MFF ceilings. An additional €2.04 billion will be mobilised through the Flexibility Instrument. The Greens/EFA Group secured €157.5 million in top-ups for parliamentary priorities despite the tight fiscal environment.
For Volt MEP Kai Tegethoff, member of the Budget Committee, the outcome reflects clear priorities and concrete added value for citizens — especially in climate, transport and research.
“Real EU added value”
“The EP delegation remained united during a long and difficult night of negotiations”, said Tegethoff after negotiations concluded early on Saturday morning around 2:15 am. “Our requests were reasonable and evidence-based, and in the end, we were able to secure a good outcome.”
“My priority was clear: to ensure the budget provides real ‘EU added value’ at a moment when funds are running low and challenges loom. This means supporting programmes like Erasmus+, research and innovation, cross-border transport infrastructure, and protection for nature and climate, all of which reap outsized dividends.”
“We fought for every Euro”
Tegethoff highlighted the concrete gains achieved for key programmes: “In the end, these efforts paid off. We managed to secure significant increases to the original Commission proposal for CEF Transport (reaching €1.7 billion), the LIFE programme (reaching €783 million), and Horizon Europe (reaching €14.1 billion).”
He concluded by underlining Volt’s guiding principle in these negotiations: “The EU budget should serve the needs of citizens, not governments. As Europeans struggle with rising costs of living, unfair overseas competition, an unstable geopolitical landscape, and increasingly extreme weather, every euro counts. And we fought for every euro.”
Here is an overview of the major increases negotiated on Volt’s core topics:
Horizon Europe: 20 Million Euros more than proposed
CEF Transport: 8,5 Million Euros more than proposed
LIFE: 10 Million Euros more than proposed
Erasmus+: 3 Million Euros more than proposed
Military Mobility: 10 Million Euros more than proposed