What changed

PA_NonLegBud

17.02.2026

OPINION

Mr Johan Van Overtveldt

The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following into its motion for a resolution:

Chair

1. Calls for an ambitious EU budget for 2027, reflecting the challenges facing Europe, including the ongoing Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and hybrid attacks on Member States’ critical infrastructure; underlines the urgent need to enhance the competitiveness of European industry and the need for investment in the defence industry, preparedness and cybersecurity, combined with strong support for the eastern border regions of the EU that are most directly impacted by the war, as well as sustained support for Ukraine, including through the integration of the Ukrainian defence technological and industrial base into EU instruments, in particular the European Defence Fund and the European Defence Industry Programme;

Committee on Budgets

2. Recalls the need to secure Europe’s energy supply in a fast deteriorating geopolitical context; stresses the need to rapidly phase out all remaining energy imports from Russia and to overall reduce the EU’s dependence on fossil fuels; calls, therefore, for continued investment in resilient energy infrastructure and in renewable and clean energy production and supply chains in Europe to deepen the EU energy market and deliver affordable and secure energy to European citizens and businesses; calls for a renewed focus on the energy efficiency first principle by scaling up support for energy efficiency measures; calls for a significant increase in funding for the Connecting Europe Facility for energy infrastructure to improve and expand cross-border energy interconnectivity, smart energy grids and energy storage and to boost EU-based supply chains; highlights the need for both distribution and transmission grids to be further developed in Europe to achieve a more competitive, independent and complete energy union, for which sufficient funding is needed;

BRUSSELS

3. Calls for a boost in investment to support EU industrial competitiveness and high-quality jobs and to facilitate strategic autonomy and decarbonisation, while securing EU supply chains for strategic sectors by prioritising the development of the EU’s circular economy and improving access to critical raw materials, as set out in the RESourceEU Action Plan; notes the importance of cooperation and partnerships with like-minded countries on raw materials to secure more diversified supply chains to meet the EU’s growing demand; stresses, furthermore, the need for adequate funding to stay the course regarding the European Green Deal and the Clean Industrial Deal and to achieve the EU’s climate, environment and energy goals, including the targets set out in the Renewable Energy Directive, the Energy Efficiency Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive; recalls the report by Mario Draghi on EU competitiveness of 9 September 2024 and emphasises the need for the post-2027 EU budget to focus on strategic priorities and scale up support for strategic investments, and on simplified access to funding;

Subject: Opinion on Guidelines for the 2027 budget – Section III 2027 (2025/2246(BUI))

4. Insists on the need to support fundamental and applied research, foster collaborative research and facilitate the scale-up and commercialisation of research results; deplores the persisting funding gap for innovation in private and public financing and calls for a more ambitious contribution in Horizon Europe funding; recalls that 2027 is the final year of the Horizon Europe programme and the proposed draft budget should therefore make use of all remaining appropriations, including the additional allocations for Horizon Europe stemming from Article 5 of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027, and from the joint political statement on the re-use of decommitted funds in Horizon Europe; restates that any and all available decommitments stemming from Horizon Europe should be made available to the programme again; calls for maintaining stable funding for the ITER project;

Dear Mr Van Overtveldt,

5. Acknowledges the increasing challenges faced by the international research community, especially regarding climate, social and gender research; welcomes, in this respect, the Choose Europe for Science initiative; calls on the Commission to take urgent action to secure long-term accessibility to high-quality scientific data for the international research community, including climate, socio-economic and gender-related data; recalls that Parliament insisted that 45 % of the Horizon Europe Cluster 2 ‘Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society’ budget should be spent on the cultural and creative industries; notes that this percentage has not been achieved so far; calls, in this regard, on the Commission to increase funding for Cluster 2 and consider a revision to the 2026-27 work programme to make an increased amount available for cultural and creative industry projects; notes that the Financial Regulation allows for placing appropriations in reserve if the budgetary authority has significant concerns about the implementation of those appropriations;

Under the procedure referred to above, the Committee on Regional Development has been asked to submit an opinion to your committee and at the coordinators’ meeting of 15 December 2025, it was decided to send the opinion in the form of a letter. The committee considered and adopted the opinion at its meeting of 28 January 2026.

6. Requests increased support from the EU budget for small and medium-sized enterprises, mid-caps and startups, including greater assistance for them to scale up and compete globally, particularly through the European Innovation Council;

A. whereas the Union continues to face persistent socio-economic and territorial challenges, including unemployment, poverty, demographic change, brain drain and migration influx which impact the regions differently;

7. Stresses that significant investments are needed to address the EU’s connectivity gap and to achieve the 2030 Digital Decade targets; calls for a stronger focus on increasing European technological sovereignty, specifically through the creation of EuroStack; highlights the need to allocate sufficient financial and human resources to ensure the robust enforcement of the digital acquis in order to strengthen the EU’s resilience; calls strongly for the EU, therefore, to maintain the same approach in tackling foreign interference, addressing the dangers of biased algorithms, and safeguarding transparency, accountability and the integrity of the digital public space;

B. whereas the cohesion policy is a key instrument for reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions within the Union, complementing national budgets and enabling the EU to navigate global complexities;

8. Requests sufficient funding for European space programmes, including for skills development, considering the space sector’s importance for the competitiveness of the EU economy and for its defence capabilities;

C. whereas cohesion policy and related Union programmes remain the Union’s main long-term investment tools to support balanced regional development, economic resilience, and territorial cohesion;

9. Calls for adequate funding and staffing for EU agencies and bodies in the policy areas of industry, research, energy, space and cybersecurity, so that they can cope with new tasks and support skills development.

D. whereas the 2027 budget should support the digital transitions, foster regional innovation and research and strengthen resilience;

E. whereas the Union shall aim at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions, including those of the external borders of the Union, with particular attention to rural and peripheral areas;

F. whereas respect for transparency should be a condition for receiving Union funding and must underpin all funding allocations and programme implementation;

The Committee on Regional Development

1. Calls for increased efforts to ensure the effective and swift implementation of the cohesion policy and related instruments to continue reducing regional disparities, strengthening local economies, and fostering territorial resilience, particularly for peripheral or outermost regions; warns, in this respect, that any cuts to technical assistance would be counterproductive, especially as the end of the programming period approaches; stresses that reducing administrative burdens is essential to ensure efficient implementation and avoid delays at the end of the programming period;

2. Calls for the simplification process initiated by the Commission to be stepped up so that cohesion policy is not hampered by crippling administrative complexity; emphasises the need to further reduce administrative and bureaucratic burdens, in particular through simplification of procedures and increased implementation flexibility; stresses that excessive bureaucracy delays project implementation, limits access to funding and places a disproportionate burden on local and regional authorities and beneficiaries, especially in less developed and border regions as well as for micro- and small-enterprises and family businesses;

3. Stresses that the Union’s 2027 budget must be adequate to the scale of current geopolitical and security challenges and the growing use of hybrid threats targeting critical infrastructure; draws attention to the particular situation of the EU Eastern border regions, which bear a disproportionate economic, social and security burden linked to the current geopolitical context;

4. Underlines the need for investments in regional infrastructure, sustainable urban and rural development, transport, digital connectivity, and energy efficiency to support balanced development across cities, towns, and rural areas, as well as to strengthen resilience to external threats, ensuring that no territory is left behind, particularly in regions facing demographic decline or rising living costs;

5. Stresses that funding should enhance regional research and innovation capacities and support integrated strategies for economic, social, and environmental resilience, with special attention being paid to SMEs;

6. Calls for targeted investment in transport infrastructure and cross-regional transport networks to enhance EU connectivity, support sustainable mobility, and strengthen territorial cohesion as well as land and maritime border protection; highlights that such investments should also contribute to strengthening strategic infrastructure, improving resilience and supporting effective border management, in particular in frontline Member States;

7. Calls on the Commission to step up its support for national, regional and local authorities so that they make the most of the opportunities offered by the mid-term review in the areas above;

8. Emphasises the lack of policy responses to the impact of the demographic challenges resulting from population ageing due to declining fertility rates and extended life expectancies, as well as the depopulation of EU regions affected by crises; underscores the importance of funding for adequate building of care and support services; underlines that demographic decline requires comprehensive strategies to support families, strengthen childcare and healthcare services, create high-quality jobs and ensure access to essential services, so that regions affected by depopulation remain attractive places to live and work, particularly for young people;

9. Calls for investments that simultaneously strengthen regional development, connectivity and economic resilience while contributing to security, crisis preparedness and the protection of critical infrastructure, with special attention to the Eastern border; stresses the importance of building on the positive experience of the mid-term review;

10. Recalls that transparency and accountability should be one of the fundamental principles for the allocation of Union funds; underlines that those mechanisms must continue to safeguard openness, fairness, and sound financial management, in particular in the last years of the programming period, as the volume of payments and the pressure on managing authorities increases;

11. Stresses the importance of cooperation with Union agencies, local and regional authorities, and stakeholders to implement cohesion policy programmes effectively and to maximise the transparency as well as the impact of Union funding for social, economic, and territorial cohesion.

Yours sincerely,

Dragoş BENEA

ANNEX: DECLARATION OF INPUT

The rapporteur for opinionopinion, Irmhild Boßdorf, declares under her exclusive responsibility that she did not include in her opinion input from interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register, or from representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies, to be listed in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION BY THE COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

Date adopted

25.2.2026

Result of final vote

+:

–:

0:

55

17

11

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL BY THE COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION