Brussels – The EU budget agreement for 2026, reached on Saturday (November 15) by negotiators from the European Parliament (EP) and the EU Council, according to a statement on Monday by Slovak MEP Lucia Yar (PS) for TASR, means a significant increase in funding for key sectors such as healthcare, defense, research, and innovation.
EP members pushed for an increase in the EU budget for 2026 by 372.7 million euros beyond the original proposal of the European Commission and secured funding for the Horizon Europe program, transport and energy networks, civil protection, and agriculture.
Negotiators from the EU institutions agreed to set the total level of committed budgetary resources for 2026 at 192.8 billion euros and payment budgetary resources (actual payments made) at 190.1 billion euros. The agreement restores the amount of 1.3 billion euros that EU countries wanted to “cut” to the levels proposed by the European Commission.
Lucia Yar, as the vice-chair of the EP budget committee, was part of the negotiations. She negotiated for the Renew Europe (RE) group, for which she coordinates budgetary issues. “I am glad that together with pro-European forces we managed to secure an additional 267.3 million euros in the EU budget for 2026. This means a significant increase in funding for key sectors such as healthcare, defense, research, and innovation,” she explained.
She also considers the increase in funding for programs such as Erasmus+, Horizon, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, as well as for infrastructure development, energy, and humanitarian aid a success. “This success will be felt by people across the EU, including Slovakia,” she stated.
The EP clarified in a media statement that the additional funding is aimed at programs and policies that will improve people’s lives, strengthen competitiveness, and defense. MEPs secured an increase in funding for the Horizon Europe program by 20 million euros and for transport and energy networks by 23.5 million euros. Three million euros were added to the Erasmus+ program. The LIFE program will receive an additional 10 million euros and the EU4Health program another three million euros. In line with the EP’s priorities and with the aim of creating new opportunities for young farmers, funding for measures to support agri-products under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund was increased by 105 million euros.
The Parliament secured an additional 10 million euros for the civil protection mechanism and RescEU to improve coordination and response to disasters. Military mobility received an additional 10 million euros, and an additional 10 million euros will be added to strengthen border management. The Parliament pushed for an additional 35 million euros for the EU’s southern neighborhood and 25 million euros for the eastern neighborhood. It also secured an increase in EU humanitarian aid by 35 million euros. (November 17)
“This means a significant increase in funding for key sectors such as healthcare, defense, research, and innovation.” Lucia Yar
