23 July 2025
EAPN initial reaction to the proposal for a Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034
On 16 July 2025, the European Commission unveiled its proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028–2034, outlining its budgetary priorities for the coming years. A crucial moment to ensure that the EU’s ambitions are accompanied by appropriate financial resources.
Yet the proposal appears disconnected from a harsh reality: in 2024, at least 93.3 million people in the EU were living at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
Instead of addressing the extreme hardship faced by more than 21% of the EU population, the Commission has chosen to prioritise competitiveness, security, and defence over social and green investment, and the eradication of poverty.
The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) expresses serious concern over:
- The continued securitisation of the EU, including the drain of significant public funds to private surveillance and security actors for private profits to the detriment of essential public services and the most marginalised;
- The growing emphasis on military spending at the cost of both social cohesion and environmental sustainability;
- The absence of a structural and adequate budget dedicated to eradicating poverty and supporting the most marginalised communities.
Without a substantial increase in overall resources and targeted earmarking for those most at risk of social exclusion, the most marginalised will be the primary victims of the EU’s increasing prioritisation of militarisation and securitisation. In comparison, the proposal to allocate 14% of National and Regional Partnership Plans to social spending appears to be a weak safeguard.
Just a year ago, the president of the Commission shares a social agenda with ambitious instruments, including the second European Pillar of Social Rights, the Affordable Housing Plan and the first ever European Anti-Poverty Strategy.
To that end, the MFF is a vital instrument for turning these commitments into concrete action. For the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy to be truly effective, it must be backed by sufficient financial resources. Specifically, the MFF 2028–2034 must:
- Allocate a greater share of EU funds to social and green investments that directly support the most marginalised across the EU;
- Ensure that at least 10% of the European Social Fund (ESF) 2028–2034 is dedicated to combating food and material deprivation, accompanied by appropriate support measures;
- Introduce a social funding conditionality, requiring EU member states to prioritise social and green investments and to adopt both Local and National Anti-Poverty Strategies;
- Earmark at least 5% of the ESF 2028-2034 specifically for tackling child poverty, and make this requirement mandatory for all member states.
Today, the EU faces a critical choice: to continue down the path of exclusion, or to commit to eradicating poverty and acting in the common interest.
EAPN will continue to advocate for an EU that supports, rather than excludes, the most marginalised.
