BRUSSELS ― The European Parliament’s four centrist groups are to demand Commission President Ursula von der Leyen make major changes to her plan for the EU’s next seven-year budget, according to the draft of a letter seen by POLITICO.

In an escalation of tensions between politicians across the mainstream spectrum and the head of the bloc’s executive, the groups will threaten to reject a key part of the 2028-2034 budget unless their conditions are met.

The draft of the letter, which is still being finalized, asks the Commission to overhaul its proposal, published in July, to meet the views of von der Leyen’s own center-right European People’s Party (EPP), the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the liberal Renew Europe group and the Greens. This quartet forms a majority in the European Parliament, which must approve the budget.

Lawmakers oppose the Commission’s “national plans,” an idea to pool funds for farmers and regions — which make up around half of the total EU budget, worth €1.8 trillion — into single pots managed by the bloc’s 27 governments. This is a change from the current system, where regions play a crucial role in handling the funding.

“As the current proposal on the [national plans] does not take our core requests into consideration, it cannot constitute a basis for negotiations,” the draft says. “We therefore look forward to seeing our key requests meaningfully reflected in an amended proposal of the European Commission, which would allow the negotiations with the European Parliament to move forward.”

The letter is designed to increase pressure on the EU executive to make concessions after weeks of stalled negotiations. If no agreement is reached, the four political groups will put forward a resolution rejecting the national plans part of the budget in the full plenary session of Parliament starting Nov. 12.

Rural development

The Commission argues that this model will allow governments to spend the EU’s money according to their specific needs and create a stronger link between payments and governments’ economic reforms.

But lawmakers say the plan would expand the power of central governments at the expense of regions, which have traditionally played a key role in handling EU funds.

One of the most significant demands from the political groups is that the Commission allocate specific funding to rural development and all regions — something that’s not included in the current budget proposal.

MEPs are also calling on the EU executive to overhaul its cash-for-reforms model, which, in their view, creates an “inherent democratic deficit.” Parliament also wants greater power to decide and scrutinize how the EU’s public funding is allocated over the seven-year period.

Political groups already agreed this month to add a debate on the architecture of the EU’s long-term budget, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework, to the full session of Parliament on Nov. 12.

That date also marks the cutoff for Parliament and the Commission to agree on changes to the national plans.

The Socialists and liberals had already said they were ready to reject the EU budget proposal, but the EPP had not yet confirmed it would also officially do so, despite many of its lawmakers in the past weeks indicating it was likely. 

Away from the Parliament, EU governments are currently haggling over the budget proposal in deliberations expected to stretch until early 2027. At that point, Parliament will negotiate the spending plan with national capitals and vote on it before it’s scheduled to come into force in 2028.