EPP discusses future EU budget at Zagreb conference

The European People’s Party held a conference in Zagreb on Friday focused on shaping the EU’s next long-term budget.

The seven-year financial framework, which will run from 2028, is expected to bring major changes in how EU funds are allocated and used. The aim is to simplify procedures while prioritizing security, defense, and competitiveness.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Croatian MEPs presented Croatia’s priorities — including cohesion policy, agriculture, and fisheries — ahead of the start of EU budget negotiations.

Plenković said Croatia is already set to receive significantly more money in the upcoming budget cycle than in the previous one.

“Under the EU’s initial calculations, we were at about 16.8 billion euros, plus nearly 2 billion more for the Modernization Fund — so close to 19 billion euros without any negotiating. That’s nearly 5 billion more than we had in the 2021–2027 budget, which was 14.5 billion. And a message for all the skeptics out there: there will be European funding in the future. It's not going to dry up,” Plenković said.

EPP Vice-President and European Parliament budget co-rapporteur Siegfried Mureșan said the purpose of the visit was to discuss Croatia’s needs with officials at all levels.

“We came today as the EPP group in the European Parliament to see the results Croatia has achieved in absorbing European funds, and to discuss with the Prime Minister, the government, and local authorities how we can ensure that the next seven-year EU budget continues to serve the people of Croatia — its enterprises, its farmers, its students benefiting from Erasmus scholarships. Ever since Croatia joined the EU, European funds have played a major role,” Mureșan said.