Europäischer Rechnungshof - European Court of Auditors
EU's next €2 trillion budget – are plans for agriculture, cohesion and security financially sound?
Press invitation
for 9 February 2026
EU's next €2 trillion budget – are plans for agriculture, cohesion and security financially sound?
- Online press briefing: Monday 9 February at 10.30 a.m. CET
- Publication: Same day at 5.00 p.m. CET
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) would like to invite you to an online press briefing for its upcoming opinions on the proposed long-term EU budget of almost €2 trillion between 2028 and 2034. These opinions will concern the proposed new single spending fund for cohesion, agriculture and security through national plans, the new common agricultural policy (CAP), and the tracking of EU spending. The briefing will take place at 10.30 a.m. CET on Monday 9 February 2026 via TEAMS.
The purpose of the briefing is to provide a detailed overview of the opinions, and to put their main messages into context. There will also be an opportunity to discuss them with ECA Members Annemie Turtelboom and Alejandro Blanco Fernandez (on the European Fund) and Iliana Ivanova (on the CAP), as well as representatives of the audit teams.
RSVP: Please let us know by 1.00 p.m. on Friday 6 February whether you intend to take part in the online briefing; we will then send you detailed instructions on how to connect. To allow for an informed discussion, confirmed participants can receive an embargoed copy of the opinions and press release upon request ahead of the briefing. All documents will be published on the ECA website at 5.00 p.m. on Monday 9 February.
Background
In 2025, the Commission put forward a total of €2 trillion for the EU’s 2028-2034 budget, or multiannual financial framework (MFF). The Council, which will ultimately decide on the budget, and the European Parliament, which needs to give its consent, have asked for the auditors’ views before they examine the proposals. In mid-January 2026 the ECA started issuing a series of opinions on these proposals.
In this batch of three thematically grouped opinions, the auditors will provide their views on the Commission’s three legislative proposals for:
- the new single European Fund for cohesion, agriculture and security;
- the new CAP;
- the proposed framework for tracking EU spending and measuring its performance.
The proposal for the European Fund would establish a single set of rules in support of cohesion, agriculture and rural development, fisheries and maritime affairs, prosperity and security. It would be based on national and regional partnership plans, and would merge funding for different long-standing policies (cohesion, agriculture) and emerging priorities (defence) under a single national plan per member state. As the CAP would be part of the new single fund, this marks the first time since 1962 that the Commission is proposing not to have a specific fund for agriculture. However, there is a specific legislative proposal on implementing the CAP, on which the auditors will also comment. And the auditors’ third opinion concerns the proposal for a common cross-cutting approach to perfomance for the EU budget as a whole, including the harmonised tracking of all EU spending.
With a budget of around €865 billion, the European Fund would be the single largest part of the next MFF, at nearly 44 % of total spending. The Commission is also proposing up to €150 billion in loans to member states, and has put forward a new financing model, under which most payments to member states would depend on the achievement of milestones and targets set out in national plans, rather than the current reimbursement of costs. This model of reward for meeting promised investments and reforms is largely inspired by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
Press contact
ECA press office: press@eca.europa.eu
Damijan Fišer – M: (+352) 621 552 224