FACT CHECK on the EU budget

Why does the EU need a budget?

How big is the EU budget and who decides on it?

The EU serves 27 countries with a total population of 450 million. With these figures in mind, the annual EU budget is actually quite small – around €160-200 billion annually in 2021-27. This is comparable to the national budget of Poland, which serves 39 million people, or the equivalent of 30% of the budget of Germany, which serves 84 million people.

The annual EU budget is part of the EU’s long-term budget, which currently covers 7 years.

This long-term budget, also known as the Multiannual Financial Framework or MFF, allows the EU to secure the resources to fund its political priorities. The size of the long-term budget and of the annual EU budget is decided by the governments of the Member States and the European Parliament, with the objective of delivering on the EU's policy priorities.

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What does the EU budget do for me?

The EU budget invests in areas where working together brings better results: creating jobs, modernising healthcare and education, funding cutting-edge research, supporting European companies, and strengthening security. It helps improve transport and energy networks, tackles climate change, and promotes digital innovation. It also allows the EU to act quickly when disasters strike- for example by sending firefighting or rescue teams.

Here are some examples of achievements the EU budget has made possible – and there are certainly many more around you!

• The EU is the leading donor of humanitarian assistance. In 2024, the EU budget allocated over EUR 2.49 billion in humanitarian assistance, helping more than 300 million people around the world, saving lives and supporting people in crises around the globe.
• In 2024, almost EUR 61 billion were allocated to support climate objectives, and over EUR 14 billion targeted biodiversity objectives, the equivalent of 32% and 6.7% of the total EU budget respectively, protecting our planet and future generations through concrete action.
• In 2024, nearly €38 billion of the EU budget supported gender equality- that’s 19% of the total budget, promoting fairness and equal opportunities across the EU.
• Galileo, the EU’s satellite navigation system, is used by over 4 billion devices worldwide, offering reliable positioning services that benefit people and businesses daily.
• 16 million people joined the Erasmus Programme since 1987, studying, training, or working abroad, fostering skills, mobility and a stronger sense of European identity.
• 3,613 km of cross-border electricity cables were added between 2014 and 2020, making electricity supply more reliable across the European Union.
• Since the beginning of the war, the EU has provided unprecedented and comprehensive support to Ukraine and its people, mobilising EUR 130.2 billion by the end of 2024 to provide financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support, standing firmly with Ukraine in defence of peace and democracy.
• More than 30 Nobel prizes were won by EU-funded researchers, supporting scientific excellence that drives progress in Europe and beyond.
• In 2024, 5 Oscar-nominated films were funded by the EU budget, bringing European stories and creativity to the global stage.

The EU budget is responsible for many of the things we enjoy in our daily lives, maybe more than you know!

How does my country benefit from the EU budget?

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The EU budget cannot and should not be reduced to a simple accounting exercise. The benefits from the EU membership significantly exceed the size of the EU budget contributions and the examples are many.

All Member States benefit from being part of the single market, a shared approach to the common challenges of migration, terrorism and climate change, and concrete gains like better transport infrastructure, modernised and digitalised public services and cutting­ edge medical treatment.

NextGenerationEU and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) at the heart of it - are a good example of how EU spending brings immediate benefit across the entire EU. Beyond the direct impact of the money EU countries receive, there will also be significant positive spillovers across borders. Countries will benefit considerably from the effects of investment made in fellow members, as they can export more in those countries. The RRF investments and reforms are therefore laying the foundations for sustainable growth and resilient economies in Europe.

All other EU budget programmes achieve the same effects, making the EU budget a key tool to boost growth and support economic convergence across the EU.

Overall, it's not possible to measure the added value of the budget just by looking at how big the numbers are. The EU budget is not about giving and taking - it's about collectively contributing to making Europe - and the world - a better place for us all.

If you nevertheless want to learn how much your country contributed to the EU budget and how much of the EU budget was spent in your Member State, check EU spending and revenue.

Where does the EU budget come from?

About two thirds of the revenue for the EU budget currently comes from EU countries' national budgets. The rest comes from own resources, such as customs duties paid on goods imported from outside of the EU, a small percentage of the VAT collected by each Member State, and other sources such as contributions from non-EU countries and fines on businesses for anti-competitive behaviour.

As of 2021, the EU has introduced a new source of revenue for the budget - a new contribution based on the amount of non-recycled plastic packaging waste each country produces. This supports our budget and our planet.

To finance NextGenerationEU, the European Commission is borrowing up to €800 billion on the capital markets, between 2021 and 2026.

On which main policy areas is the EU budget spent?

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Funds from the EU budget are distributed in a way that supports the delivery of the different EU policy priorities. Between 2021 and 2027, the EU budget mainly goes to support the modernisation of our continent, to make it better able to address the challenges of today and tomorrow:

• More than 50% of the long-term budget and NextGenerationEU go to policy areas like:
  • research and innovation, via Horizon Europe;
  • fair climate and digital transitions, via the Just Transition Fund and the digital Europe programme;
  • preparedness, recovery and resilience, via the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism (rescEU) and the health programme, EU4Health.
• 30% of the long-term budget and NextGenerationEU are spent on fighting climate change – the highest share ever, from the largest EU budget ever. These funds are part of a major investment plan that the EU will put in place to green the economy. It combines EU and national public funds, and public and private investment, to support the EU on its path to climate neutrality by 2050.
• 20% of the Recovery and Resilience Facility funds are invested in the EU’s digital transformation. These funds help the EU invest more in supercomputing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advanced digital skills and the wider use of digital technologies across the economy and society.
• In 2026 and 2027, 10% of the annual spending under the long-term budget will contribute to halting and reversing the decline of biodiversity. Biodiversity is essential for life. Restoring forests, soils and wetlands and creating green spaces in cities will help the EU achieve its climate change mitigation and greening objectives.

I want to know more about EU projects

How is the EU budget protected?

The European Commission is committed to protect taxpayer’s money and making sure that every euro from the EU budget is spent in line with the rules and generates added value. The Commission works closely with the authorities in EU countries and with the other EU institutions towards this goal.

The Commission relies on a robust internal control framework, including dedicated control strategies, to ensure that the EU funds are well managed and protected.

Before any payment is made, the Commission can interrupt, suspend or reduce payment if it discovers deficiencies in the way the EU budget is spent, or errors in the cost claims received from beneficiaries. Interruptions and suspensions mean temporarily stopping payments from EU funds, until the problems detected have been solved by the EU countries involved.

The Commission can also take action after the payments have been made, by introducing financial corrections and recovery orders for any funds already paid.

The Commission is continually enhancing the protection of EU budget. Revised rules for the financial management of the EU budget entered into force on 29 September 2024, ensuring that EU funding is more transparent, more digital and clearly reflects the Union's values.

In the event of fraud, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) steps in to investigate, with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) looking into cases that involve more than one EU country.

All of these protective measures ensure our EU budget is very well protected.

How is the EU budget protected if rule of law principles are breached?

The rule of law is one of the founding values of the European Union.

A member country that breaches the rule of law principles in a way that affects or seriously risks affecting the EU budget is now subject to the general regime of conditionality.

This conditionality regime allows the EU to take measures – for example suspension of payments or financial corrections – to protect the budget. At the same time, the final recipients and beneficiaries of EU funds should continue to receive their payments, directly from the countries concerned.

In force since January 2021, this instrument complements other tools and procedures to protect the EU budget, for example checks and audits, financial corrections, or investigations by the EU's anti-fraud office (OLAF).

What does the EU budget do in times of crisis?

The EU budget is always there to respond to emergencies both inside and outside the EU. For example:

• In response to a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine, all 27 EU countries and 6 participating states (Iceland, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Moldova and Türkiye), have offered help to Ukraine via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The assistance includes millions of items such as first aid kits, medical and shelter equipment, water pumps, energy supply, power generators and firefighting equipment. The EU is also coordinating medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients in need of urgent care to hospitals across Europe. As of January 2025, over 4,000 patients received treatment as part of the medical evacuations.
• In July 2025, following a major fire in Cyprus, the authorities requested firefighting assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. In response, the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre mobilised 2 Canadair airplanes from the EU's joint firefighting fleet, rescEU, stationed in Spain. Throughout the summer, firefighters from across Europe have been strategically prepositioned in key high-risk areas in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, and France, continuing to support local response teams as needed. In total, around 670 firefighters from 14 countries are participating in this initiative. 

• Since 2012, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service has been at the forefront of disaster response, offering satellite-based mapping and early warning and monitoring to assist in preparedness, emergency response and recovery to over 120 countries worldwide.
• Since its creation in 2002, the European Union Solidarity Fund – funded by the EU budget - has been used for 110 natural disasters covering a range of different catastrophic events including floods, forest fires, earthquakes, storms, and drought. 24 Member States (plus the UK) and 4 accession countries (Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, and Türkiye) have been supported so far for an amount of over EUR 8.6 billion.
• Since 2019, the EU budget funded lifesaving support to those affected by disasters across the globe, including to people in Haiti after the earthquake, in Guinea following the outbreak of Ebola and in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a volcano erupted.

The largest budgetary response to a crisis, however, is NextGenerationEU: it directly tackles Europe’s recovery from COVID-19, with the capacity to mobilise up to €800 billion in current prices to help EU countries build a greener, more digital and more resilient Europe.

How did the EU budget enable the EU response to the war in Ukraine?

Who spends the EU budget?

All of the above. The EU’s long-term budget is spent through almost 50 programmes, in 3 main ways, also known as implementation modes:

• Direct management: EU funding is managed directly by the European Commission (around 23% of the budget)
• Shared management: the European Commission and national authorities jointly manage the funding (around 68%)
• Indirect management: funding is managed by partner organisations or other authorities inside or outside the EU (around 9%)

Making sure the budget is spent in line with the rules and goes to where the the needs are therefore depends on all partners involved. The Commission works hand in hand with all of them to make sure every euro goes to where the needs are and funds the public good in the EU.

In addition to the funds spent under the long-term budget, the extraordinary recovery instrument NextGenerationEU finances the Recovery and Resilience facility, which is directly managed by the Commission.

How much is spent on administration?

Only a tiny percentage of the EU budget is spent on buildings, salaries, pensions, and other running costs of all the EU institutions, agencies and bodies.

In relative terms, the EU’s administrative staff is small: we employ about 60,000 officials – comparable to the administration of a large European city – to cater for the needs of the 450 million EU citizens.

How can one receive EU funding?

A wide range of beneficiaries can apply for EU funding. The EU has several different funding programmes that you may be able to apply for, depending on the nature of your project.

To qualify for EU funding, you need to follow certain rules and procedures. This is inevitable – we need to make sure that every euro is spent in a transparent and correct way, for the benefit of EU citizens. At the same time, the EU is also constantly working to simplify and modernise its budget rules and make sure people can access EU funding to finance their ideas as easily as possible.

Do you want to start a business or help you children’s school become more energy efficient? Check our website to find out your options. To be considered, your application needs to be complete, concise, and submitted on time through the correct electronic submission system.