The third issue of rani’s briefing series on Global Europe and the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) comes out as the negotiations pass from the Council Presidency to the President of the European Council. The Irish Presidency’s negotiating box of 10 Oct. proposed an 8% cut to the overall MFF against the Commission’s proposal, with Heading 3, Global Europe, taking the largest reduction of any heading at 17.4% – more than four times the 3.9% cut in the Cyprus Presidency’s box in June. The box failed to secure consensus at the European Council of 15-16 Oct., and European Council President António Costa has now taken over, with a new compromise due ahead of the special European Council on 26-27 Nov. and a Council-level agreement targeted for 17-18 Dec.
The series is written for partners and stakeholders who need to follow the MFF and GEI negotiations without tracking every Council document and committee amendment. Each issue sets out where the negotiations stand, where Council and Parliament agree and differ, which dynamics could shift the outcome and which dates matter next.
This issue continues our Member State intelligence series, following Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands with France, Poland, and Lithuania, which takes over the Council Presidency in January. All three frame Global Europe in terms of European strategic interests: France through Member State steering and migration leverage; Poland through enlargement and the eastern neighbourhood, and Lithuania through security, with Ukraine at the centre. None of them have put a figure on Heading 3, however, and all three continue to defend cohesion and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) first. National aid budgets offer little reassurance either, as all three sit below their respective ODA targets and have cut aid in recent years, France by 10.9% in real terms in 2025 alone.
The briefing also covers the Irish box in detail, the reactions at the October summit, Costa’s preparations, and the European Parliament committee report on the Global Europe Instrument (GEI), which calls for €225 billion and a 93% ODA share ahead of the plenary vote on 11-12 Nov.
CEPS supported rani as a knowledge partner in preparing this briefing.
Read rani’s latest November 2026 briefing on Global Europe and the Next MFF.
Read previous issues of rani’s briefing series on Global Europe and the next MFF:
