The Irish Presidency’s latest Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) negotiating box would cut the EU’s future democracy, civil society, media and culture programme, AgoraEU, by 30% – almost four times more than the overall budget reduction.

At a time when civic actors are facing growing financial and political pressure, such a cut would weaken Europe’s democratic infrastructure. EU leaders and the European Parliament should ensure that democracy funding does not become collateral damage in the search for an MFF compromise.

On Saturday, 10 October, the Irish Council Presidency presented its revised negotiating box for the 2028–2034 MFF, in an attempt to bridge persistent differences  among member states ahead of the crucial European Council meeting on Thursday, 15 October 2026

Responding to pressure from several more frugal member states to reduce the size of the EU budget, the Presidency proposes an overall cut of around 8% compared with the Commission’s July 2025 proposal, bringing the MFF down from €1.985 trillion to €1.825 trillion.

Democracy takes a disproportionate hit

The proposed cuts are far from evenly distributed. One of the programmes they hit hardest is AgoraEU – the EU’s future programme for democracy, civil society, media and culture. The Presidency proposes cutting its budget by 30%, from €8.582 billion to €6.007 billion, almost four times as sharply as the EU budget overall.

This should raise alarm bells. At a time when democratic institutions and civic space are under growing pressure across Europe, funding for democracy should not become an adjustment line in the search for an MFF compromise.

Alongside substantial proposed reductions to Horizon Europe (−9.6%), the Digital Leadership Programme (−13.0%), Erasmus+ (−4.1%) and the Justice programme (−29.9%), the AgoraEU cut would weaken precisely those actors and structures that help sustain open, pluralistic and democratic societies.

The wrong time and the wrong place for cuts

For civil society organisations, EU funding provides the long-term resources needed to monitor the rule of law, defend fundamental rights, support citizen participation and maintain independent organisations where domestic funding is limited or increasingly politicised. Many organisations are already facing a broader squeeze on funding, including as a result of the sharp contraction in US foreign assistance and international support for civil society.

The same applies to independent media and cultural actors contributing to pluralism and democratic debate. Cutting AgoraEU by almost a third would inevitably reduce the EU’s capacity to support its democratic infrastructure at a moment when it is most needed.

EU leaders and Parliament must protect democracy

EU leaders should therefore reverse this massive cut at their summit on Thursday. Cutting AgoraEU would make only a marginal difference to the overall size of the EU budget: the proposed  €2 billion reduction amounts to just 0.14% of the total MFF. However, for civil society, media and cultural actors relying on this funding,  the impact would be immense.

The European Parliament has a particular responsibility here. Its immediate response to the negotiation box firmly rejected the 8% overall cut and warned against reductions affecting competitiveness, external action, agriculture and regional funding. Yet their statement did not mention AgoraEU at all – despite the proposed 30% reduction making it one of the programmes facing the deepest cuts.

During the negotiations on the 2021–2027 MFF, Parliament successfully  resisted cuts to key EU programmes and secured additional funding, including for the Rights and Values programme and Creative Europe. It should be prepared to do so again. The MFF ultimately requires Parliament’s consent, giving MEPs both leverage and responsibility. As negotiations enter their decisive phase, Parliament should make clear that a substantial cut to AgoraEU is not an acceptable price for reaching an agreement.

Europe cannot credibly claim that defending democracy is one of its defining priorities while simultaneously cutting one of its principal instruments for supporting it by almost a third.

This Op-Ed was originally published in the Brussels Times.

Johannes Greubel is Senior Policy Analyst, Head of Programme and ‘Connecting Europe’ Project Lead at the EPC.

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