Commissioner for Budget Piotr Serafin presented the Draft Budget 2027 to the European Parliament's Budgets Committee on 15 June 2026, proposing €200 billion in commitments and €212 billion in payments, a 7% increase year-on-year. He stressed that margins are extremely tight due to debt servicing costs—€9.9 billion for NGEU interest and €1.15 billion for the Ukraine support loan—leaving little flexibility for new initiatives without redeployments.
General rapporteur Nils Ušakovs (S&D, Latvia) pushed back, arguing the budget is insufficient: commitments rise only 3.5% in nominal terms, meaning a real-terms cut given inflation, and margins below €500 million leave no room for unforeseen needs. He questioned assumptions on NGEU disbursements and interest rates, and criticized the use of all flexibilities to cover Ukraine loan costs rather than using the dedicated instrument. Janusz Lewandowski (EPP, Poland), replacing the rapporteur for other sections, echoed concerns about tight margins.
Serafin defended the proposal as respecting MFF ceilings and commitments, noting that reflows from EFSD+ provisioning freed €3 billion to offset Ukraine costs. Next steps include the full draft budget on 9 July, trialogues on 16 July and 14 October, an amending letter in early October, with reconciliation starting 27 October.
The debate exposed a cleavage between the Commission's emphasis on fiscal discipline and MFF compliance versus the Parliament's push for higher spending to address inflation and unforeseen needs. Ušakovs and Lewandowski represent a cross-party concern that the budget fails to provide adequate flexibility, potentially impacting member states facing higher GNI contributions, farmers (agricultural reserve increased), cohesion beneficiaries (payment backlog addressed), and Ukraine (€4 billion non-repayable support). The outcome will depend on upcoming trialogues and the amending letter.