Overview
The legislative file 2025/0545(COD) concerns a Commission proposal to establish a single, enhanced framework for tracking expenditure and monitoring the performance of the EU budget, applicable from the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) onwards. The initiative, titled "Budget expenditure tracking and performance framework," is a standard legislative procedure (COD) currently at the European Parliament's first reading stage, awaiting a committee decision. The overall status is ongoing. This analysis is based on the Commission's proposal document (COM(2025)0545), which outlines the purpose, provisions, and expected impact of the framework.
Legislative timeline
The procedural history shows the file was referred to the European Parliament's responsible committee(s) for a first reading on 23 October 2025. A key upcoming milestone is the preparation of the committee report. The most recent recorded event in the institutional calendar is from 17 March 2026, listed as "Establishing a budget expenditure tracking and performance framework and other horizontal rules for the Union programmes and ac...", indicating ongoing parliamentary work on the file.
Institutional handling
Within the European Parliament, the file has been jointly assigned to the Committee on Budgets (BUDG) and the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT). On the Commission side, the lead Directorate-General is DG Budget (BUDG), under the responsibility of Commissioner Piotr Serafin. In the Council of the EU, the dossier is being handled by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) configuration.
Stakeholder reactions
A public consultation on the proposal received 53 feedbacks from 53 distinct organisations. Sentiment analysis of the feedback on specific topics shows a divided or moderate consensus: on 'Conditions to access EU budget', feedback from 33 organisations showed moderate, consensus support; on 'Accounting and auditing of EU budget', feedback from 17 organisations showed a moderate, divided sentiment. However, on the topic of 'Cohesion and rural funding', feedback from 14 organisations showed a strong, consensus opposition. Among the organisations submitting feedback, several—including COFACE FAMILIES EUROPE, Save the Children, CEPES, the European Federation for Family Employment and Home Care (EFFE), and ENSIE—are recorded as strongly opposing the proposal. Separately, there has been direct stakeholder engagement with policymakers, with 18 recorded meetings between stakeholders and Members of the European Parliament. These involved 15 distinct organisations, with the most active in these meetings being the WWF European Policy Programme, Transport and Environment, PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability European Secretariat, and the BELGIAN-PORTUGUESE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Media coverage
Media monitoring has identified one relevant news article from Romania. The article reports that Romania's PM Ilie Bolojan met with an EU counterpart, Roxana Mînzatu, to discuss prioritizing the absorption of PNRR (Recovery and Resilience Facility) funds and accelerating project delivery, alongside discussions on potential FSE+ (European Social Fund Plus) funding.