The Party of European Socialists (PES) held the first meeting of its newly established Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) Working Group, Chaired by PES Vice-President, MEP Victor Negrescu, bringing together key actors involved in the negotiation from the European Parliament, the Council, the Committee of the Regions, national parliamentarians, representatives of the European Commission, and party officials from across Europe.
The meeting focused on the ongoing negotiations on the 2028–2034 EU long-term budget, at a crucial moment as discussions enter a new phase. Participants stressed the need for an ambitious and progressive EU budget capable of responding to today’s geopolitical, social, and economic challenges, strengthening cohesion and social inclusion, supporting the green, digital, and just transitions, and delivering tangible results for citizens across Europe.
The meeting welcomed the progress achieved in recent months, thanks to the combined efforts of the European institutions and the progressive family. They also underlined the contribution of the European Parliament, with key work led by S&D negotiators Carla Tavares and Sandra Gómez, as well as from the Committee of the Regions under the leadership of its President, Kata Tüttő, alongside our PES GAC ministers under the Chairmanship of the Secretary of State for the European Union of Spain, Fernando Sampedro Marcos. As negotiations now enter a new phase, the meeting stressed the need to ensure that progressive priorities are reflected in the final budget through meaningful and credible allocations.
Victor Negrescu, PES Vice-President and Chair of the PES MFF Working Group, said:
“As the family of social democrats, socialists, and progressives, we have a clear political responsibility in shaping the next EU long-term budget. Europe cannot afford a weak Multiannual Financial Framework at a time of global uncertainty. The next MFF must be ambitious, fair and future-oriented — capable of funding EU public goods, strengthening cohesion and social convergence, and delivering a just digital, social and green transition. At a moment when citizens expect Europe to protect, invest and deliver, the EU budget must be a real instrument for solidarity and transformation, ensuring that no region and no citizen is left behind, while giving the European Union the capacity to act and to meet today’s challenges.”
Photo: Online participants in the PES MFF Working Group
Discussions highlighted key priorities for the PES in the upcoming negotiations.
- – Participants reiterated the need for a reinforced European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), including earmarking for social inclusion and material deprivation, strengthened support for the European Child Guarantee, and reinforced social conditionality.
- - The European Competitiveness Fund should also better reflect social priorities.
- - Gender mainstreaming should be further integrated, and a robust commitment to health must be ensured.
- - A strong and genuinely place-based cohesion policy was identified as a cornerstone of the next MFF.
- - Participants stressed that cohesion policy must fully reflect multilevel governance and genuine partnership, and that National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) should neither dilute nor renationalise core EU policies nor be linked to European Semester conditionality in ways that unfairly penalise regions.
- – The meeting underlined the need for a significant boost to affordable and decent housing.
- – A sustainable approach to competitiveness supporting decarbonisation, renewables, and electrification was also highlighted, guided by convergence criteria and local industrial renewal; participants called for a ring-fenced Just Transition Fund.
- – Participants also stressed the need for the protection of climate spending targets, biodiversity earmarking, and the continuation of the LIFE programme.
- Participants also firmly rejected any cuts to cohesion policy and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
- - The urgent need to introduce new genuine own resources was also highlighted, to ensure the EU’s capacity to act while meeting debt repayment obligations. Moreover, support was expressed for the new debt instruments in the framework, as catalyst Europe.
The PES MFF Working Group will meet regularly in the coming months to ensure convergence on key priorities and to contribute proactively to shaping a fair, ambitious, and future-oriented EU long-term budget.
Participants
- Victor Negrescu, Chair of the PES MFF Working Group; PES Vice President; European Parliament Vice-President, PSD Romania
- Fernando Sampedro Marcos, Chair of the PES GAC; Secretary of State for the European Union, PSOE Spain
- Yonnec Polet, Deputy Secretary General, PES
- Kata Tüttő, President of the European Committee of the Regions, Committee of the Regions
- Mohammed Chahim, MEP; S&D Vice-President for the Green Deal for Industry, Energy and Climate and Financing the Just Transition, S&D; PvdA Netherlands
- Jean-Marc Germain, MEP; S&D Coordinator for BUDG, S&D; PS France
- Carla Tavares, MEP; Member of BUDG Committee; MFF Rapporteur, S&D; PS Portugal
- Sandra Gómez, MEP; Member of BUDG Committee; Own Resources Rapporteur, S&D; PSOE Spain
- Julia Lemke, Member of the Cabinet of the Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, European Commission
- Catalin Gheran, Member of the Cabinet of the Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, European Commission
- Stella Kaltsouni, Member of the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Energy and Housing, European Commission
- Johanna Bernsel, Deputy Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, European Commission
- Wendy Ducatelle, Member of the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, European Commission
- Christoph Prenner, Advisor to the Federal Minister of Finance, SPÖ Austria
- Ariane Fontenelle, Political Secretary in the European Parliament, PS Belgium
- Tsvetelina Penkova, MEP; International Secretary of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP Bulgaria
- Sanja Bježančević, MP; Member of the European Affairs Committee, SDP Croatia
- Andreas Psaras, Member of the EDEK International Relations Bureau, EDEK Cyprus
- Ilona Sorri, International Secretary, SDP Finland
- Serge Le Gal, Federal Secretary for Europe, PS France
- Matthias Ecke, MEP; Member of the BUDG Committee, SPD Germany
- Peter Heil, International Secretary, DK Hungary
- Nicolò Carboni, Responsible for relations with the PES; International Secretariat, PD Italy
- Nils Ušakovs, MEP; Member of the BUDG Committee, Saskaņa Latvia
- Olivier Cano, International Secretary, LSAP Luxembourg
- John Grech, International Secretary, Partit Laburista Malta
- Clint Flores, Economist, Partit Laburista Malta
- Jamila Madeira, MP; International Secretary, PS Portugal
- Adrian Câciu, MP; Former Minister of Finance; Former Minister of Investments and European Projects, PSD Romania
- Marcos Ros Sempere, MEP; S&D REGI Coordinator, PSOE Spain
- Malin Holmberg, Political Advisor, SAP Sweden
- Luca Menesini, President of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions, PES CoR
- Pascal Smet, Member of the Committee of the Regions; PES Coordinator for the COTER Commission; International Secretary, PES CoR; Vooruit Belgium
- Emmi Lintonnen, Vice-President, PES Women
- Michaela Kauer, Member of the PES Women Executive, PES Women
- George Tsoumas, Vice-President, YES
- Dusan Nikezic, MP; Member of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending, SSP Serbia
- Valiantsin Askirka, International Secretary, BSDP Belarus
- Echeverria-Torres Monasterio Iñigo, Deputy Secretary General, S&D
- Antonie Varoquié, Cabinet Member of the S&D Group President, S&D
- Chiara Malagodi, Head of Cabinet of the President of the Committee of the Regions, CoR
- Anna Kolesnichenko, Policy Analyst on Economy, FEPS
- Cristina Avani, Political Advisor (BUDG), S&D
- Louisa Bentley, Assistant, S&D
- Corina Popa, Political Advisor, S&D
- Sara Marques, Accredited Parliamentary Assistant to MEP Carla Tavares, S&D
- Arantxa Tarazona, Accredited Parliamentary Assistant to MEP Sandra Gómez, S&D
- Alejandro Peinado García, Accredited Parliamentary Assistant to MEP Marcos Ros Sempere, S&D
- Lilian Goncalves, Accredited Parliamentary Assistant to MEP Mohammed Chahim, S&D
- Lyubv Bourilkova, Accredited Parliamentary Assistant to MEP Tsvetelina Penkova, S&D
- Nora Sefa, Accredited Parliamentary Assistant to MEP Matthias Ecke, S&D
- Constantin Kourkoulas, Head of EU Policy Unit, PES
- Giorgia Azzarelli, Policy Adviser on Economic and Financial Policy, PES
