EU budget 2026: €12.9 Bn for Horizon Europe proposed by the Commission, €4.27 Bn for Erasmus+

The draft budget for 2026 proposed by the European Commission on 04/06/2025 provides for €14.11 Bn for research and innovation, including €12.9 Bn for Horizon Europe. This is €573 M more for R&I than the 2025 budget (€13.54 Bn) and €211 M more for Horizon Europe (€12.76 Bn in 2025). Provision has been made for €4.27 Bn for the Erasmus+ programme, which is €305M more than in 2025.

In this budget proposal, investment in R&I for 2025 represents 7,31% of the total budget of €193.26 Bn (compared with €199.7 Bn in 2025). The funding dedicated to Erasmus+ represents 2,21 % of this total budget.

"Stepping up investment now in areas such as research and innovation, strategic infrastructure, digital transformation, secure connectivity, space and the Single Market will be key to unlocking future growth, to boosting competitiveness of enterprises and SMEs and tackling common challenges such as open strategic autonomy, decarbonisation and demographic change", states the Commission.

The draft budget for R&I includes funding for:
• Euratom: €293.8 M (compared with €280 M in 2025).
• Iter…