EU Member States have reached a political agreement on the bloc’s budget for 2026, following late-night negotiations on 15 November between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament.
The agreement provides increased funding for several priorities important to Poland, including border protection, transport connectivity — especially military transport routes — and EU humanitarian assistance. Member States also adopted a declaration to raise financing for projects of strategic importance from Poland’s perspective, notably cohesion policy initiatives and rural development programmes.
According to the European Commission and Polish negotiators, the 2026 EU budget maintains a balance between ongoing commitments and new challenges facing the Union as a whole.
Jurand Drop, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Finance, and Piotr Serafin, European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, both participated in the negotiations.
“The outcome of the talks is crucial for expenditure priorities from Poland’s point of view, particularly cohesion policy and rural development. The joint declaration on the launch of payments guarantees that necessary EU budget funds will be available to reimburse incurred costs. This will be essential once project implementation accelerates,”
said Jurand Drop after the conclusion of negotiations.
Financing will primarily support operational programmes under the EU’s 2021–2027 Multiannual Financial Framework.
The agreement will now be formally confirmed by both the Council of the EU and the European Parliament within the next two weeks.
How much funding is included?
For 2026, EU budget commitments will amount to nearly €193 billion. Payments are expected to exceed €190 billion, representing an increase of almost €35 billion compared with 2025.
