MEPs call for 10% increase in EU programmes for 2028-2024 including Horizon and Erasmus+

MEPs are calling for a 10% increase for all EU programmes, including Horizon Europe and Erasmus+.

Speaking at a press conference on 14/04/2026, Siegfried Mureşan, a Romanian centre-right MEP who is drafting the European Parliament’s report on the EU’s 2028-2034 budget, said the funding for all programmes should be increased by 10% compared to the amounts the European Commission proposed in July 2025.

Mureşan said that the EP wanted a budget for 2028-2034, the so-called Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), that was “sufficient” for the EU’s policy priorities and “predictable” for beneficiaries, including researchers.

His report on the MFF, which is expected to be approved by the Parliament’s budget committee on 15/04/2026, calls for €177 billion for the Horizon Europe programme and €234bn for the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), which aims to help develop research results into viable business projects. The report, which has been drafted by Portuguese centre-left MEP Carla Tavares, also proposes €42bn for the Erasmus+ programme, compared to the €36bn the Commission suggested in…