Close to €2 trillion proposed in Commission’s MFF for 2028-2034, digital skills at the forefront

• July 22, 2025
• admin

On 16 July, the European Commission unveiled its proposal for the next long-term budget of the EU: the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), for the period from 2028 – 2034. Valued at almost €2 trillion, the MFF aims to see an “independent, prosperous, secure and thriving” Europe as the next decade rolls in. This is a big increase: the current EU budget, which is running from 2021 until 2027 amounts to just €1.2 trillion, or about 1% of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Digital policy stands out as a key area in the Commission’s new MFF proposal, reflecting a strategic shift, where digital skills are no longer regarded as a need but rather as the necessary foundational infrastructure for EU sovereignty, competitiveness and resilience. So what does the new long-term budget of the EU hold for digital skills in the decade to come?

The art of the EU’s long-term budget, the MFF

The Multiannual Financial Framework (also known as the EU’s long-term budget) is complementary to national budgets, only coming into play when spending on EU level rather than the national one is the more reasonable and cost-effective option. The MFF sets out the spending priorities and limits for a number of years ahead, and on this basis, an yearly EU budget is planned.

By identifying ‘digital leadership’ as one of four core thematic areas with a budget of €51.5 billion — five times the combined budgets of the Digital Europe Programme and the Connecting Europe Facility under the current MFF — the draft recognizes the essential role of digital systems in ensuring Europe’s economic and political resilience. This suggests that digital capacity is now recognized as a strategic asset requiring sustained public investment, rather than mainly a driver of innovation.

Digital skills and employment in the EU’s new MFF

European Competitiveness Fund (€409 billion)

A new European Competitiveness Fund will invest in strategic technologies, to benefit the entire Single Market, as recommended in the Letta and Draghi Reports. The new European Competitiveness Fund, working in synergy with Horizon Europe, will provide seamless support to European innovators from research to deployment, from ideas to start-up to scale-up.

It will power the implementation of the Competitiveness Compass and help the Union build a competitive edge in strategic sectors, including by facilitating multi-country and cross-border projects with high EU value added. In this way, it will drive
prosperity and the creation of high-quality jobs.

The Fund, operating under one rulebook, and offering a single gateway to funding applicants, will simplify and accelerate EU funding and catalyse private and public investment.

It will focus its support on four areas: 1) clean transition and decarbonization;
2) digital transition;
3) health, biotech, agriculture and bioeconomy;
4) defence, and space.

The Fund will maximise the impact of every euro spent by drawing in private money.

In close connection with the European Competitiveness Fund, the renowned EU research framework, with its flagship Horizon Europe worth EUR 175 billion, will continue to fund world-class innovation.The world-renowned Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation will continue to invest in groundbreaking fundamental and collaborative research as well as disruptive innovation in strategic areas. It will operate as a self-standing programme closely connected to the European Competitiveness Fund through integrated work programmes for collaborative research and a common rulebook. The new Horizon Europe will be simplified and reinforced, enabling faster and more strategic EU spending through clearer rules and more transparent procedures for applicants and stakeholders. It will support
cross-sectoral fundamental research actions, relying on its well-established excellence-driven approach and preparing the future engines of growth and technological leadership. Horizon Europe will be built around four pillars: Excellent Science, Competitiveness and Society, Innovation and the European Research Area. An expanded European Research Council will promote fundamental science and the European Innovation Council will be reinforced in its support to start-ups. The Euratom research and training programme will fund nuclear research and training and contribute to the ITER fusion project

Horizon Europe and the Competitiveness Fund will offer support for the entire investment journey of a project (from conception phase to scale-up) and reduce both the cost for potential beneficiaries and the time for disbursement.

For quality jobs in strategic sectors through the European Competitiveness Fund, supporting:
• life-long learning
• education
• training projects
• apprenticeships

Stepping up investment in skills

Stepping up investment in skills is fundamental to help EU students and workers embrace opportunities. At the same time, investing in people means supporting a vibrant civic space and protecting artistic and cultural freedom. The long-term budget will continue to invest in the areas of skills, culture, media and values. A reinforced Erasmus+ programme will be the backbone of the Union of Skills. Education mobility, solidarity and inclusiveness will remain the core of the programme.

Sector-specific skills streams

The new MFF will encourage tailored skills initiatives in key sectors, such as:

• Health & biotech: AI diagnostics, genomics data processing
• Energy & climate: Smart grids, IoT-enabled infrastructure
• Defence & space: Secure coding, aerospace data fusion, encryption
• Public sector: Digital identity, eProcurement, open data platforms
• Creative industries: 3D/VR content creation, immersive storytelling

This sectoral focus ties directly to funding under the European Innovation Council (EIC), EIT Knowledge & Innovation Communities (KICs), and Horizon Europe successors.

National and Regional Partnership Plans

Europe is only as strong as its citizens are empowered – and therefore supporting people and Europe’s social model will be at the heart of the plans. A social target of at least 14% will apply to National and Regional Partnership Plans to steer significant investments towards the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, supporting quality employment, skills, social inclusion and housing across all Member
States, regions and sectors.

The European Social Fund will be implemented via the new National and Regional Partnership Plans, totalling €865 billion of investment, which will feature comprehensive sets of measures supporting education, employment and social objectives such as reforms and investments to reskill and upskill people, improve the quality of education and training systems, fighting poverty and homelessness.

The new partnership plans will give additional opportunities to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, supporting quality employment, skills and social inclusion across all Member States, regions and sectors. As part of the plans, the European Social Fund Plus will contribute to promote equal opportunities for all, to support strong social safety nets, foster social inclusion, intergenerational fairness and fight poverty.