The European Commission has unveiled its proposal for a long-term EU budget for 2028 to 2034. The seven-year Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is set to total nearly EUR 2 trillion, representing an average of 1.26% of the EU’s gross national income over the budget period.
The proposal marks a shift toward a more flexible, policy-driven EU budget, empowering Member States to respond to urgent priorities like social and affordable housing with solutions tailored to national and regional needs.
During the presentation of the new MFF on 16 July, President Ursula von der Leyen outlined how the new long-term budget would help solve systemic challenges, and cited housing as a key example:
“The National and Regional Partnership Plans enable a more strategic allocation that reflects European priorities on the ground. Let me give you an example: housing. For housing today, it would be hard to find the right funding, but it is a huge topic all over the European Union. With one approach with the National and Regional Partnership Plan, the one plan, you can take this cross-cutting topic and work on it within the plan, depending on the regional and national specificities of the Member States. The Plans put European priorities under one roof, are easier to align with local needs, simpler to manage for national and local authorities, and – crucially – are more powerful when combined.”
The proposal for the new EU budget is a major step toward making our funding more effective in supporting EU priorities such as housing. It brings together several key EU funds into notably the largest instrument of the MFF, the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPs), worth EUR 865 billion. Social and affordable housing will be one of the specific objectives of the Plans, together with fighting poverty and homelessness, and supporting investment in social infrastructure. As part of the overall NRP, the proposal introduces a 14% target for social expenditure.
EU Commissioner for Housing Dan Jørgensen said:
“Millions of Europeans are suffering due to lack of access to decent, affordable and sustainable homes. By providing new funding opportunities for social and affordable housing at the European level, this new long-term budget proves our commitment to tackle the concrete needs of our citizens. A Europe that delivers is a Europe that ensures social fairness.”
Social spending will also be tracked across the entire MFF. There are more options to deliver cross-cutting solutions for housing, for example, through the European Competitiveness Fund, which also includes social infrastructure among its objectives – making it possible to mobilise both public and private investment in housing through budgetary guarantees – and Erasmus+, which recognises the challenges of young people and students to access housing. The proposals, when adopted by the European Parliament and Council, would unlock important new funding channels for social and affordable housing.
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An ambitious budget for a stronger Europe: 2028-2034
Details
- Publication date
- 18 July 2025
- Author
- Directorate-General for Energy