Skip to content
OPINION (2026/0196(BUD))

On the guidelines for the financial year 2027 budget – all sections

IMCO-AD-789890

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection · Rapporteur: Piotr Müller

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull textProcedure & committee votes
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 17 Oct 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection calls on the Committee on Budgets to incorporate its suggestions into the 2027 budget resolution. It asks for the 2027 budget to boost competitiveness, the single market, consumer protection, security and defence, customs and digital enforcement. It wants barriers removed, especially the "Terrible 10", administrative burdens cut for SMEs, small mid-caps, start-ups and scale-ups, and a genuine Competitiveness Fund. It calls for more funding for research, innovation, artificial intelligence and digitalisation of single market procedures. It asks the Commission to present a revision of the Defence Procurement Directive and the Directive on defence-related transfers by the end of 2026, and to prioritise the fast establishment of the European Union Customs Authority.

Committee position. The committee asks the Committee on Budgets to incorporate its suggestions into the 2027 budget resolution, focusing on competitiveness, the single market, consumer protection, security and defence, customs, digital enforcement and simplification.

Key points

  1. Calls for the 2027 budget to enhance competitiveness, sustainability and the single market, protect consumers, remove barriers including the "Terrible 10", and cut unjustified administrative burdens for SMEs, small mid-caps, start-ups and scale-ups.
  2. Calls for the 2027 budget to support research and innovation clusters in industry and to facilitate the development of start-ups and SMEs.
  3. Calls on the Commission to ensure sufficient budget allocations to mitigate challenges including the war in Ukraine, Middle East disruptions, hybrid attacks and foreign interference, and to secure supply chains and access to critical raw materials.
  4. Calls on the Commission to prioritise security and defence investment, build a European defence market, support SMEs, and present a revision of the Defence Procurement Directive and the Directive on defence-related transfers by the end of 2026.
  5. Calls for a genuine Competitiveness Fund, a strengthened Single Market Enforcement Taskforce with more resources and a clear mandate, and notes the Industrial Accelerator Act.
  6. Calls for 2027 budget investment in innovation and artificial intelligence, and for simplification of budgetary rules to go with proper management of EU funds and protection of the EU budget.
  7. Highlights the need for the 2027 budget to help businesses, workers and consumers adapt to environmental and climate rules by easing administrative and compliance costs.
  8. Calls for increased resources for the Customs Union and market surveillance, including checks on parcels from e-commerce, IT tools, product-testing facilities, border control equipment, and fast establishment of the European Union Customs Authority.
  9. Calls on the Commission to fund enforcement of single market and consumer protection rules, including product safety, cross-border online commerce and protection of vulnerable consumers.
  10. Reiterates the call for sufficient funding and staffing to enforce the digital rulebook and consumer rules, addressing the resource imbalance with large digital actors.
  11. Calls for a properly resourced European AI Office with a substantial increase in operational and technical capacity in 2027, and for prioritising digitalisation of single market procedures.
  12. Stresses that simplification must preserve legal certainty and Union law, and calls for combating foreign interference, dark patterns, addictive design and biased algorithms, and for the Single Market Programme to fund public procurement capacities.

Who is affected

  • SMEs, small mid-caps, start-ups and scale-ups: administrative burdens should be reduced and their development supported.
  • Consumers: the budget should ensure a high level of protection, including for the most vulnerable, online and offline.
  • Customs and market surveillance authorities: more resources for checks, IT tools and equipment.
  • The European AI Office: funding should allow a substantial increase in its capacity.
  • Member states bordering Ukraine: budget allocations should mitigate the effects of the war on them.

Figures and deadlines

  • 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, under which 2027 is the final budget.
  • 2028-2034 MFF, for which the 2027 budget is a bridging budget.
  • 30% of European 'unicorn' companies seek funding and growth outside of Europe.
  • 20.6 % of EU single market relevant administrative procedures are fully online for cross-border users.
  • By the end of 2026, the Commission should present a revision of the Defence Procurement Directive and the Directive on defence-related transfers.