This Monday, the 24th, the Council of the European Union (EU) gave the ‘green light’ to the European annual budget for 2026 after negotiations with the European Parliament, which foresees a total of commitments of 192.8 billion euros.
“Today, the Council formally adopted the EU budget for 2026. This budget is the result of negotiations with the European Parliament that led to an agreement on November 15, 2025”, announces in a statement the European institution that brings together the Member States of the Union.
Total commitments (total commitment limit) are set at 192.8 billion euros and total payments (real cash flow for the year) at 190.1 billion euros.
In the European budget, commitments are the maximum amount that the Union can commit to spending on programs and projects, while payments represent the money actually paid during the year.
Today’s endorsement also takes into account an amount of 715.7 million euros as a margin below the maximum spending limits of commitments under the current Multiannual Financial Framework to allow the EU to react to unforeseen circumstances, according to the EU Council.
The budget will finally be approved after its adoption by the European Parliament, which is scheduled for this Wednesday.
This is the sixth annual budget under the EU’s long-term budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027.