Financing the priorities of the Union: budget, own resources, common debt, private investing
(2026) XXXII FIDE Congress (Helsinki 2027) — ISBN: [978-1-23456-789-7], accepted/in-press
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- This national report examines Belgium’s position on the financing of the European Union’s priorities, principally in the context of negotiations on the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), and analyses the constitutional, administrative, and democratic dimensions of EU public finance from a Belgian perspective. The report shows that Belgium generally supports exploring new EU own resources to finance growing Union ambitions and the repayment of NextGenerationEU debt, while insisting that any reform should preserve European competitiveness and avoid disproportionate impacts on Member States’ revenues. Belgium remains cautious regarding increases in national contributions and opposes measures that would significantly raise its budgetary burden. At the same time, it emphasizes sound financial management, balanced budgets, and the exceptional character of common EU borrowing. Regarding EU expenditure, Belgium advocates a policy-driven MFF focused on competitiveness, defence, migration, climate action, and strategic autonomy. Federal and regional authorities support greater flexibility and simplification of EU funding programmes, while strongly defending traditional policies such as cohesion policy and the Common Agricultural Policy. A central concern is the preservation of multi-level governance: Belgian regions oppose excessive centralization of spending decisions and seek continued direct involvement in the design, management, and implementation of EU programmes. The report further highlights Belgium’s qualified support for performance-based budgeting and conditionality mechanisms, including rule-of-law conditionality, provided that administrative burdens remain limited and Belgium’s federal structure is respected. Experience with the Recovery and Resilience Facility has demonstrated both the potential and the political sensitivity of EU funding conditionality, particularly where reforms affecting pensions and economic governance are concerned. From a constitutional perspective, Belgium imposes relatively few substantive limits on the creation of new EU own resources or EU borrowing. However, approval of Own Resources Decisions must comply with national constitutional requirements and may require the assent of regional parliaments when regional competences are affected. The report also underlines the complexities generated by Belgian federalism, especially regarding the distribution of financial responsibilities between federal and federated entities. Finally, the study reveals that the allocation and implementation of EU funds in Belgium are largely executive-driven and often based on political negotiations rather than formal legal criteria. Although stakeholder consultation has increased, participation by parliaments, social partners, local authorities, and civil society remains limited and uneven. Belgium therefore advocates stronger involvement of regional and local actors in EU funding governance as a means of enhancing democratic legitimacy, accountability, and compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and shared management
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El Berhoumi, M., Fromont, L., Gambardella, I., & Vander Putten, N. (2026). Financing the priorities of the Union: budget, own resources, common debt, private investing. In Pekka Pohjankoski (ed.), XXXII FIDE Congress (Helsinki 2027). Intersentia. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/278613