On 10 November, the negotiators of the German Council Presidency and the European Parliament reached an agreement on the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework for the period 2021-2027. The deal which was brokered during the 12th round of negotiations will still have to be approved by all Member States in the EU Council and by the Plenary of the European Parliament.  

Parliament has already signaled that it is pleased with the outcome of the negotiations. The Commission also welcomed the agreement.  

On the side of the Member States, Poland and Hungary have voiced their concerns as the next EU Budget should be tied to a new rule of law conditionality that was agreed on by Parliament and Council negotiators on 5 November. Both states have not given their consent so far on the agreement, after the Council met on 19 November to vote on the package, meaning that the negotiations are ongoing. 

Especially the European Parliament has urged the concerned parties to move forward quickly, without, however, making concessions on the new conditionality agreement. Generally speaking, it is in everyone’s interest to find an agreement soon, so that the funding programmes  can be implemented. However, Poland and Hungary are at the moment sticking to their positions strictly and do not want to give their consent for the conditionality. It remains to be seen how and when this deadlock can be solved. 

If passed, the new MFF would see an increase of €16 bn for flagship EU programmes, as compared to the deal that was reached by EU leaders in July. The most relevant for sport include the following:  

·        + €2.2 bn for Erasmus (final amount: €23.4 bn)  

·        + €4 bn for Horizon Europe (final amount: €84.9 bn)  

·        + €3.4 bn for EU4Health (final amount: €5.1 bn) 

This timeline provides a good overview about the whole process. Additionally, the final numbers can be found here under Political Compromise Nov 2020 plus the EP top-up as well as in this infographic. 

Furthermore, negotiations are currently ongoing for the €650 bn Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which makes up almost 90% of the NextGenerationEU instrument that was specifically set up to assist Member States with their recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. Sport is mentioned in the Parliament’s report on the RRF, which was used as basis to enter into the ongoing interinstitutional negotiations. 

It is important to keep in mind that while the budget is set now, the negotiations about the content of the different programmes are still ongoing. The EOC EU Office is working diligently to have sport included in as many programmes as possible, including for the first time in the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the new EU4Health programme. Furthermore, the Office is working to ensure that 2% of the Erasmus budget would be earmarked for sport, which would amount to €468 Mio. This would constitute an increase of more than €200 Mio. compared to the previous MFF 2014-2020.