Bigger, better funded and focused on public goods: how to revamp the European Union budget

Summary

How should the European Union budget be revamped to meet the pressing collective challenges of climate change, competitiveness, defence, enlargement and response to unforeseen shocks? This Blueprint evaluates the extent to which current spending goes to European public goods and identifies significant misalignments between budget allocations and areas in which EU-level provision offers the greatest added value. An analysis of EU spending gaps suggests that a significant increase in the size of the EU budget is also needed if the EU is to meet its strategic objectives.

The Blueprint also outlines criteria for new EU budget revenues, or ‘own resources’, and argues that since the ultimate source of any new revenue mechanism is national budgets, the main justification for new revenue sources should be to help achieve EU policy objectives and to weaken the dominance of the net-balance logic in EU budget debates. To increase its value added, the next seven-year EU budget, from 2028 to 2034, must be strategically focused, better funded and more effective with a reinforced performance framework, while managing the fiscal impact of future EU enlargements.