In the new European Union budget (MFF) proposed by the Commission, the digital and research sectors receive a substantial boost. Horizon Europe is doubled, and digital spending is increased fivefold. MCA remains vigilant about how these new funds could be used positively for the digital cultural heritage sector. Negotiations start now.

On July 16, the draft for the new EU long-term budget was presented by the European Commission, featuring a total amount of almost €2 trillion. This marks the first step towards the adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework, which will cover the period 2028–2034. Negotiations on this budget will continue over the next two years, involving all EU institutions and significant exchanges with Member States – civil society will have the possibility to step up and steer the conversation.

The general structure

The new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) proposal communicated yesterday, presents a different structure that aligns with the first “roadmap” presented by the Commission in February 2025. The major components are:

1. European Economic, Territorial, Social, Rural and Maritime Sustainable Prosperity and Security Fund

Empower Member States and regions to tailor investment and reform strategies aligned with EU priorities such as digital and green transitions, resilience, and social fairness. The main tool of this pillar will be the National and Regional Partnership plans, that will support proposed national strategies that align EU goals with local priorities in sustainability, digitalisation, health, and social cohesion, fostering ownership, and in full respect of the principle of subsidiarity.

Budget: Around 60% of the EU budget would be allocated to this pillar (approx. €1.062 billion over 7 years).

2. Competitiveness, prosperity and security & European Competitiveness Fund

A central investment capacity to enhance EU’s global competitiveness, tech sovereignty, research excellence, and strategic sectors, including SMEs and innovation ecosystems. It will invest in strategic technologies, industrial capacity, research and innovation to boost EU economic sovereignty and close private funding gaps for Europe’s long-term resilience. The main mechanism will be the European Competitiveness Fund. 

In this pillar, we find all the funding instruments we will delve into the rest of the article. According to the Commission, clumping and have fewer programmes will mean agility, maximization of synergies and easier access and understing to European funds for common citizens.

Budget: Approximately 25% of the EU budget (approx. €589 billion over 7 years).

3. External Action and Global Europe

Streamline and strengthen EU’s external action tools to respond to global challenges, ensure security, stability, enlargement, and promote European values abroad. The objective will be to enhancing the EU’s role as a global peace and value-based actor.

Budget: Approximately 10% of the budget (approx. €215 billion over 7 years).

Paula Pinho and Ursula von der Leyen presenting the new budget © European Commission

The impact for digital cultural heritage sector

Here are some key highlights that can concern the digital cultural heritage sector. For an in-depth analysis on the impact for the cultural sector as a whole, we invite you to read Culture Action Europe’s article.

• The Horizon Europe programme has doubled its budget to €175 billion (from €93 billion). However, it’s worth noting that Pillar 2 on Global Challenges has been transformed into a new pillar called “Competitiveness and Society”. This change in language, from a socially oriented narrative to a more market-driven one, and especially the disappearance of the words “culture and creativity” is something MCA is monitoring closely with a critical eye. Inside this Pillar we find what can be visualized as the new clusters: Global societal challenges, EU Missions, New European Bauhaus Facility.
• The digital budget has been quintupled to reach €54 billion. While this is a major boost, we still lack clarity about its internal structure. What was formerly known as Digital Europe is now being rebranded as Digital Leadership inside the Competitiveness Fund, and its scope and mechanisms remain to be defined.
• Erasmus+ has also seen its budget doubled to €40 billion (from €27 billion).
• Creative Europe has been basically merged with the CERV programme into a new umbrella initiative called AgoraEU, which has a total budget of €8.5 billion. Out of this, €1.7 billion is directly allocated to culture, while the rest is split across the media strand and the democracy and participation strand (old CERV). These three dimensions are now integrated under the single programme of Agora EU – the Cross-sectoral strand of Creative Europe is gone.

All of these programmes, Horizon Europe, AgoraEU, Digital Leadership, and Erasmus+, are now grouped within the newly established overarching framework called the European Competitiveness Fund, intended to boost the EU’s economic, industrial, innovation, and social competitiveness.

Point of vigilance and opportunities

A wordcloud with the most recurring terms in the Communication presenting the draft budget © Michael Culture Association

In May 2025, in response to the public consultation on the MFF, MCA published a statement outlining the areas where the EU budget could increase support and protection for (digital) cultural heritage. MCA is pleased to see that many of the points we advocated for — such as maintaining a strong and standalone Horizon Europe programme, and a focus on democracy and the fight against climate change — are reflected in the current MFF draft. However, there are still several areas that deserve particular attention and where MCA will continue to be actively engaged:

• • Uncertainty about a dedicated culture and creativity cluster in Horizon Europe: The entire budget strongly emphasizes industrial and technological competitiveness. The potential merging of thematic clusters within Horizon — including Cluster 2: Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society — into broader categories such as Global Societal Challenges, EU Missions, and the New European Bauhaus Facility, could weaken support for research in the fields of culture and cultural heritage.

  • Digital leadership – but for what purpose? The main question is how the proposed €54 billion will actually be used. The Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), including “Digital Leadership” as a policy area, primarily focuses on infrastructure and digital sovereignty. However, Article 3(c) of the proposal explicitly mentions “Support to cultural and creative industries, complementing the AgoraEU programme” — a promising sign for greater attention to the sector. Still, there is no mention of cultural heritage digitisation, long recognised as a cornerstone for heritage protection.

  • National and regional reform and investment plans offer new opportunities: As we already noted in our May statement, these individually negotiated plans between the Commission and recipient entities could reinforce national digitisation strategies and broader cultural agendas. Respecting the principle of subsidiarity, these plans could create new openings for cultural funding at national and regional levels.

  • Cultural heritage in EU external action: The European External Action Service has already recognised the importance of cultural heritage as a tool for peacebuilding, diplomacy, and development cooperation — as stated in the 2021 Council Conclusions on the EU Approach to Cultural Heritage in Conflicts and Crises. Cultural heritage is highlighted as key to fostering tolerance, mutual understanding, reconciliation, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, mitigating social tensions, and preventing escalation into conflict. Future EU external funding must reflect this commitment, particularly in supporting the protection of heritage at risk of looting, illicit trafficking, or destruction.

What will come next

The Council of the EU and the European Parliament will discuss the proposals and adopt their respective positions. The MFF Regulation (a legislative proposal presenting the spending plan) is adopted after. This means that before reaching to the final EU budget, we will have to wait 2027. At the same time, this means that we can still influence the budget creation to bring cultural heritage and culture at the center of the conversation.