How big is the current MFF (2021-2027) and what does it mean for the Netherlands?

On 17 December 2020, the European Council, consisting of the heads of state and government of the EU member states, agreed to the new Multiannual Financial Framework on 17 December 2020. The MFF is a package of €1,074.3 billion. A day later, on 18 December 2024, the European Council reached agreement with the European Parliament on the economic recovery plan NextGenerationEU, to alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. The recovery plan amounts to €750 million. The 2 instruments together therefore total €1,824.3 billion (2018 prices).

When the overall EU budget and its allocation to the EU’s priorities are known at EU level, the funds under shared management, such as the agricultural funds and structural funds, are allocated by means of the national envelope. The national envelope is the maximum amount each member state can claim from the funds. The national envelopes are appended to the respective fund regulations.

The Netherlands is entitled to approximately €8 billion in total for 2021-2027. At more than €5.5 billion, the agricultural funds (EAGF and EAFRD) account for the lion’s share.

Besides the funds under shared management, funds under direct management are allocated directly to projects or institutions funded directly by the Commission without the intervention of national governments. Funds under direct management are not subject to national envelopes because funds are awarded on the basis of the Commission’s approval of the applicants’ project proposals. Most of these budgets are spent on research and innovation projects in the Horizon Europe programme. The Horizon 2020 dashboard indicates that Dutch organisations and institutions had received grant funding of €4.42 billion by the end of 2026 out of the funds available for 2021-2027.