Business Europe position paper calls for stronger competitiveness framework in next MFF

BusinessEurope, the organisation representing 42 national business federations in Europe, published a position paper on the horizontal priorities of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028-2034. As already stated in a previous position paper on Horizon Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), published in December 2025, BusinessEurope calls for reinforced funding for the ECF, Horizon Europe, the Connecting Europe Facility and Global Europe, in line with the European Commission’s proposals.

Amongst other issues, the position paper, which was published on 13 January 2026, calls for competitiveness-related programmes to be excellence-driven, with possible exceptions in limited cases to ensure a minimum degree of geographical balance. The role of regions and territories in designing National Regional Partnership Plans should be safeguarded, and conditionality should be applied consistently with the plans’ objectives.

Moreover, BusinessEurope supports closer integration between Horizon Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund and calls for a €177 billion Horizon Europe budget (2025 prices), as recommended by the Draghi report, to strengthen industry-led innovation through a reinforced Pillar II and effective public-private partnerships. The organisation urges the co-legislators to conclude negotiations by the end of this year.

For more information:

Business Europe - press release

BusinessEurope position paper on the Commission's proposal for the 2028-2034 MFF