Open letter: Investing in people and regions in the next EU budget

Open letter: Investing in people and regions in the next EU budget

To: the Heads of State or Government of the European Union

Cc: António Costa, President of the European Council; Micheál Martin, Taoiseach (Irish Presidency of the Council)

Brussels, 15 October 2026

Dear Heads of State or Government,

Ahead of the European Council of 15–16 October, we write on behalf of the EUFunds4Social Coalition, which brings together European networks and national organisations including NGOs, social services, public health and service providers, lifelong learning and social economy actors, workers, and social partners.

We welcome the Irish Presidency’s work to move the negotiations on the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework forward, and we recognise the difficult context in which you are preparing the next EU budget; however, Europe must deliver on the Treaty objective of economic, social and territorial cohesion.

We therefore reiterate our call on you to support strong EU social funding and in particular:

1. Agree an overall budget in line with the European Parliament’s position of 1.27% of EU GNI.
2. Secure adequate resources for Heading 1, and place NextGenerationEU repayments outside the ceilings, as the European Parliament proposes.
3. Preserve what the ESF and the ERDF guarantee: stand-alone funds with €124bn for the ESF, as the European Parliament proposes, or at the very least dedicated, ring-fenced envelopes with their own objectives in every national plan, at least at current levels adjusted for inflation.
4. Raise the social spending target from 14% to at least 25% of the National and Regional Partnership Plans, to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights and respond to today’s pressing social challenges, and introduce realistic co-financing rates.
5. Earmark direct EU funding for social innovation, capacity building and transnational cooperation of civil society organisations and social partners, and social economy actors within the EU Facility.

The Negotiating Box of 10 October proposes a smaller budget than both the Cyprus Presidency and the Commission and remains well below the level the European Parliament considers necessary. Heading 1, which carries cohesion and social investment, is also reduced, while it still has to absorb the repayment of NextGenerationEU. We welcome that the Presidency keeps the cohesion envelope at the level of the Cyprus box, slightly above the Commission proposal. However, this is roughly the same amount in cash terms as in 2021–2027, which means a reduction in real terms once inflation is taken into account. The box confirms a single fund delivered through National and Regional Partnership Plans, with a 14% social spending target and part of the support offered as loans, while the EU Facility is reduced and its direct EU funding for social innovation has still no dedicated allocation.

Social and territorial investment is key to helping Europe respond to the major challenges of our time: rising inequality and polarisation, underinvestment in public services, the urban–rural divide, demographic ageing, skills shortages and a high need of upskilling and reskilling, high youth unemployment and inactivity, and the digital and climate transitions. The European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund, both grounded in the EU Treaties, support quality employment, foster social cohesion and protect rights in every region of the Union. In doing so, they strengthen the foundations of our societies, our democracy and Europe’s competitiveness.

We want an EU budget that continues to invest in people, communities, quality services and the social economy, with strong social funding and effective guarantees for inclusion. That means protecting people-centred support and minimum spending for social inclusion, child poverty, homelessness, health, youth employment and material deprivation, and keeping enabling conditions linked to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the European Pillar of Social Rights. It also means giving social partners, civil society and people with lived experience a real role in the design, governance and monitoring of programmes, and keeping EU funding accessible to not-for-profit organisations, for example by exempting them from co-financing requirements when they support groups facing heightened vulnerabilities or pursue social inclusion priorities, in the NRPP Regulation. This is how Europe’s social market economy can remain a source of resilience in an uncertain world.

We stand ready to work with you, the Irish Presidency and the European Parliament towards an EU budget that delivers for people and regions.

Yours sincerely,

EUFunds4Social Coalition