European Union

European Council President António Costa invited the EU leaders to an informal EU leaders' retreat on 12 February 2026 in Alden Biesen castle in Belgium, dedicated to strengthening the single market in a new geoeconomic context.

Written by Tim Peters.

The European Parliament is fully committed to ensuring an ambitious EU long-term budget that meets the Union’s many challenges in the years to come. Therefore, Parliament’s two co-rapporteurs on the MFF, Siegfried Mureşan (EPP, Romania) and Carla Tavares (S&D, Portugal), insist on a significantly higher volume for the 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework (MFF) than proposed by the European Commission. In their draft interim report, Parliament’s two co-rapporteurs propose an overall size of 1.38 % of EU gross national income (GNI), 1.27 % of EU GNI for the MFF as such and 0.11 % of EU GNI for the repayment of debt created by Next Generation EU (NGEU). The MFF constitutes the EU’s long-term budgetary plan, setting a maximum level of spending (‘ceilings’) for each major category of expenditure (‘heading’) in accordance with Article 312 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

In their draft, the two co-rapporteurs propose to Parliament to continue its opposition against ‘the merging of different policies in one plan per Member State’. They welcome the substantial increase in financial resources proposed for greater investment in research, strategic autonomy, the clean transition, defence, technological sovereignty and economic resilience. However, they stress that the consolidation of programmes in the Competitiveness Fund reduces transparency and limits Parliament’s ability to ensure appropriate funding for specific policy objectives. The co-rapporteurs oppose the Commission approach on additional flexibility, which in their eyes sacrifices transparency and controls under the guise of efficiency, compromising programme quality and democratic accountability, and undermining Parliament’s role as the budgetary and discharge authority.

The European Commission presented its proposals for the 2028-2034 (MFF) on 16 July 2025 and 3 September 2025. The Commission proposed a budget amounting to a total of almost €1.8 trillion in commitments over seven years (in constant 2025 prices). The 2028-2034 budget proposed by the Commission corresponds to 1.26 % of the EU’s gross national income (GNI) including 0.11 % of EU GNI for the repayment of the debt created by NGEU grants. Excluding the NGEU repayment, the proposed post-2027 MFF would reflect, in nominal terms, an increase of €367.2 billion (+29 %). However, in real terms, the increase would only be 0.02 percentage points of GNI.

Academia, think-tanks, other EU institutions and bodies, and a variety of stakeholders are publishing a wealth of analysis and commentary on the proposed 2028-2034 MFF as it proceeds through negotiations (see our monthly digest).

OVERVIEW OF EPRS PUBLICATIONS ON THE 2028-2034 MFF PACKAGE: LEGISLATION IN PROGRESS BRIEFINGS:

• David Ashton and Pieter Baert, Single market and customs programme
• Bruno Bilquin and Eric Pichon, Global Europe instrument
• Krisztina Binder and Tarja Laaninen, Erasmus+ (to be published soon)
• Steven Blaakman, Union support for asylum, migration and integration
• Alessandro D’Alfonso, Karoline Kowald and Marin Mileusnic, National and regional partnership plans, European territorial cooperation and EU facility 2028-2034
• Alina Dobreva, System of Own Resources (to be published soon)
• Costica Dumbrava, Union support for the Schengen area, European integrated border management, and EU visa policy
• Clément Evroux, Horizon Europe 2028-2034: 10th EU research and innovation framework programme
• Clément Evroux, Proposal for a Council regulation on Euratom training programme 2028-2032 (to be published soon)
• Alina Georgescu, AgoraEU (to be published soon)
• Mathias Gullentops, Connecting Europe Facility 2028-2034: Financing EU infrastructure networks
• Issam Hallak, European competitiveness fund
• Karoline Kowald and Marianna Pari, Multiannual Financial Framework (to be published soon)
• Gabija Leclerc, Support for associated overseas countries and territories, including Greenland
• Rafał Mańko, Justice programme 2028-2034
• Rafał Mańko, Pericles 2028-2034: Exchange, assistance and training for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting
• Vasilis Margaras, ERDF – Cohesion Fund and conditions for EU support to regional policy
• Marin Mileusnic and Tim Peters, Budget expenditure tracking and performance framework (to be published soon)
• Marketa Pape, European Social Fund 2028-2034
• Martina Prpic, Union support for internal security
• Nikolina Šajn, Regulation on the common agricultural policy for the period 2028 to 2034
• Frederik Scholaert, Conditions for EU support to the CFP (2028-2034 programming period)
• Agnieszka Widuto, Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation and Decommissioning
• Agnieszka Widuto, The Nuclear decommissioning assistance programme of the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania (Ignalina programme) (to be published soon)
• Dessislava Yougova, Union Civil Protection Mechanism: 2028 2034 programming period

INITIAL APPRAISALS OF COMMISSION IMPACT ASSESSMENTS:

• Irmgard Anglmayer, Civil protection, preparedness and crisis response
• Irmgard Anglmayer and Esther Kramer, MFF 2028-2034: Quality analysis of the Commission’s impact assessments
• Josefina Capdevila Penalva, Regulation establishing Global Europe
• Andriana Efthymiadou, Nationally pre-allocated envelopes
• Dieter Frizberg, Reinforcing competitiveness in the EU
• Esther Kramer, Single Market and Customs Programme
• Nikolaos Sarris, Budget expenditure-tracking and performance framework
• Mari Tuominen, The AgoraEU, Erasmus+ and Justice programmes

FURTHER READING:

• Brief up-to-date state-of-play information on all legislative proposals of the 2028-2034 MFF package: EPRS Legislative Train Spotlight on 2028-2034 MFF package
• Legislative observatory, Interim report on the proposal for the multiannual financial framework for 2028-2034 2025/0571R(APP)
• Website on the EU long-term budget by DG COMM of the European Parliament
• European Commission draft legislative proposals: The 2028-2034 EU budget for a stronger Europe
• Draft interim report on the proposal for a Council regulation laying down the Multiannual Financial Framework for the years 2028 to 2034 (COM(2025)0571 – C10-0000/2025 – 2025/0571R(APP)), Committee on Budgets, Co-Rapporteurs: Siegfried Mureşan, Carla Tavares

Február elejétől testkamerát használnak a rozsnyói városi rendőrök, az intézkedés a közbiztonság javítását, a lakosság és a rendőrök védelmét egyaránt célozza – tájékoztatott a honlapján az önkormányzat.

Written by Laurence Amand-Eeckhout.

Background

As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is a generic term for a large group of diseases that can affect any part of the body. One defining feature of cancer is the rapid creation of abnormal cells that grow beyond their usual boundaries, which can then invade adjoining parts of the body and spread to other organs (metastasis). Cancer arises from the transformation of normal cells into tumour cells in a multistage process that generally progresses from a pre-cancerous lesion to a malignant tumour.

According to the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), at least 40 % of all cancer cases could be prevented with effective primary prevention measures, meaning that around four in 10 cancers are potentially avoidable by reducing exposure to established modifiable risk factors. The main risk factors for cancer include tobacco use, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet, obesity, physical inactivity, hormonal factors, environmental and occupational exposures, ultraviolet radiation, and infections such as those caused by hepatitis B and C viruses and some types of human papillomavirus. The burden of cancer can also be reduced through early detection and timely access to appropriate treatment.

World Cancer Day takes place every year on 4 February. It was established on 4 February 2000 at the initiative of the Union for International Cancer Control. The three-year ‘United by unique‘ campaign (2025-2027) aims to raise awareness of the importance of people-centred care.

Facts and figures

According to estimates from the IARC, about one in five people worldwide will develop cancer at some point during their lifetime.

There are no official EU statistics for the total number of people currently living with cancer in the EU. Available Eurostat data focus on deaths from cancer, cancer healthcare and equipment for treatment.

Cancer is currently the second leading cause of mortality in the EU, after cardiovascular diseases (Eurostat). In 2024, around 2.7 million people were diagnosed with cancer in the EU and around 1.27 million died (data published in December 2025 by ECIS, the European Cancer Information System). Compared with 2022, this represents a slight decrease of 1.7 % in new cases and 1.9 % in deaths. Nevertheless, these estimates illustrate the substantial burden of cancer, and projections indicate that these figures are expected to rise further: owing to an ageing population, unhealthy lifestyles, and unequal access to screening and care, by 2040, cancer diagnoses are expected to increase by 19 %, and cancer deaths by 27 %, which would make cancer the leading cause of death in the EU.

According to the EU Country Cancer Profiles Synthesis Report 2025, published jointly by the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), between 2023 and 2050 cancer is expected to reduce population life expectancy by 1.9 years on average in the EU compared with a scenario without cancer.

The four most common cancer causes of death for both men and women in the EU are estimated to be lung cancer (19.7 % of all cancer deaths), followed by colorectal (12.2 %), pancreatic (7.5 %) and breast cancer (7.3 %). Among men, the main diagnoses are prostate cancer, followed by lung and colorectal cancer. Among women, the main diagnosis is breast cancer.

As highlighted in the 2024 joint European Commission/OECD report on cancer inequalities, significant inequalities persist across the EU in exposure to risk factors, particularly affecting those with lower levels of education, who show higher rates of smoking, obesity and harmful alcohol consumption, resulting in higher cancer incidence and mortality. In addition, substantial gender-based differences exist in exposure to cancer risk factors, to the detriment of men, particularly with regard to tobacco use, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diets and overweight.

In 2021, the Commission estimated the overall economic impact of cancer to exceed €100 billion annually. In a 2025 report, the OECD estimates that in the EU-27+2 (Iceland and Norway), workforce productivity is reduced by €50 billion each year, with cancer projected to cost €97 billion annually between 2024 and 2050.

EU action

Since the mid-1980s, the EU has worked alongside Member States to combat cancer. Under Article 168 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the EU complements and adds value to national public health actions. EU efforts focus on prevention, research and information (e.g. awareness campaigns), while fostering cooperation between Member States. The EU also adopts legislation tackling cancer risk factors, such as exposure to environmental pollution or hazardous substances and radiation, obesity, alcohol-related harm, tobacco consumption and smoke- and aerosol-free environments. In 2023, the revised Consumer Credit Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/2225) strengthened consumer protection in credit agreement, particularly for cancer survivors (‘right to be forgotten’).

In February 2021, as part of the European health union, the European Commission adopted the Europe’s Beating Cancer plan to address cancer-related inequalities and help improve prevention, treatment and care. A total of €4 billion has been allocated to the plan, drawn from various programmes. The plan is structured around four key action areas (prevention; early detection; diagnosis and treatment; and quality of life for cancer patients, survivors and carers) and supported by 10 flagship initiatives, under implementation. In February 2025, the Commission published a review of the plan from its launch until the end of 2024. It highlights that implementation is well underway (more than 90 % of actions have either been concluded or are ongoing), that the plan is a successful example of a health-in-all-policies-based approach, and that governance of the plan has proved to be efficient so far, with several groups providing expertise (comprising stakeholder representatives, Member State experts and Commission services). However, delays and gaps persist, notably concerning financial and institutional barriers.

The EU has invested continuously in cancer research through successive framework programmes for research and innovation. Under Horizon Europe (2021-2027), the Cancer Mission ensures that new research and innovation developments are effectively translated into concrete solutions to improve cancer control.

European Parliament

In June 2020, the European Parliament set up a Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA), which ended its mandate in December 2021. The committee’s final report was adopted by Parliament in February 2022. Its recommendations focus on cancer prevention, equal access to cancer care across borders, and a European approach addressing medicine shortages.

In its resolution of 13 December 2023 on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), Parliament pointed out that many people living with NCDs (including cancer) are undiagnosed and unaware of their illness, and thus fail to get proper, timely treatment. It invited the Commission to collect examples of best practices regarding screening for and early detection of NCDs. Parliament also stressed the importance of ensuring the collection of comparable, high-quality data on NCDs at EU level.

Since the start of the current legislature, MEPs have submitted a range of written questions to the Commission concerning cancer-related issues. In 2025, these included questions on the funding of the Europe’s Beating Cancer plan (E‑004037/2025) and its inclusion in the next multiannual financial framework (E-004760/2025); the protection of cancer survivors from discrimination (E-001252/2025); the harmful effects of sunbeds (E-001259/2025); measures to reduce cancer risk in children and young people (E-002125/2025 ); and the assessment of the effectiveness of innovative cancer therapies (E-001448/2025).

The Committee on Public Health (SANT) monitors the implementation of the Europe’s Beating Cancer plan. It is preparing an own-initiative report to assess the plan’s implementation, supported by an EPRS study (European implementation assessment) published in October 2025. The study, which assesses the implementation of the plan across EU Member States between 2021 and 2024, focuses on three core areas: gaps and delays in implementation, particularly in prevention, cancer care and quality of life; the plan’s impact on cancer inequalities across the EU; and lessons learned and their relevance for future EU initiatives on NCDs. It also proposes actions to improve cancer prevention and control in the EU.

Read this ‘at a glance’ note on ‘EU action on cancer – State of play‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

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