EU budget, defence, cost of living on European Parliament plenary agenda

Brussels – The European Parliament’s priorities for the 2028–2034 long-term budget and those ahead of the European Council meeting on 15 October, defence and the cost of living, rising house prices and the Muslim Brotherhood network: these are some of the issues on the agenda for the European Parliament’s plenary session, which opens on Monday 5 October in Strasbourg and runs until Thursday 8. Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro will also attend the session and, on Tuesday (6 October), will address the Chamber to discuss the future of the European Union. This visit follows on from a series of similar visits during the previous parliamentary term, when the European Parliament launched the “This is Europe” debate series; since then, 15 EU heads of state or government have taken part in these debates.

On Wednesday (7 October), Parliament will debate developments in the negotiations on the next long-term budget, starting with the adoption of its demands. In its position on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028–2034, adopted last April, the European Parliament called for an increase of around 10 per cent compared with the Commission’s July 2025 proposal to support key priorities such as defence and security, competitiveness, and the cohesion and agriculture policies set out in the Treaties. Today (2 October), during the press briefing ahead of the plenary session, the Socialist Group’s spokesperson, Georgina Mombo Rasero, reiterated that “we cannot do more with fewer resources.” For this reason, her group supports “the creation of new own resources, in particular those derived from taxes on major online gambling platforms and digital betting activities.” According to Rasero, the budget must “meet the EU’s needs, such as competitiveness, defence or strategic investments,” but it cannot neglect “cohesion, agricultural policy or investment in social welfare.” The spokesperson for Patriots for Europe, Alonso de Mendoza Asensi, says that “the Commission wants to speed up the process” on the budget because of the elections in France. “Everyone knows that Brussels wants to lock in the agreement before the French vote,” referring to a possible far-right victory.

The European Parliament’s budget proposals will also be the subject of a debate on Tuesday (6 October) ahead of the October European Council. The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU will also take part in the discussion. Other topics to be addressed in this context include measures to strengthen Europe’s economic competitiveness and support for Ukraine.

Also on Tuesday (6 October), MEPs will vote on AGILE, the programme to drive innovation in the European defence sector. The plenary is expected to give its final approval following the provisional agreement between Parliament and Council negotiators. “This is a new 115 million euro programme for rapid innovation in the defence sector, which is due to launch next year,” explained the spokesperson for the European People’s Party, Francisco Correia Da Silva, adding that his group “wants European start-ups, SMEs and scale-ups to turn their ideas into the defence technologies that Europe needs.” The Greens’ spokesperson, Alex Johnson, noted enthusiastically that during these negotiations, his group had “successfully secured the exclusion of lethal autonomous weapons systems.” This is a victory for the Greens because “we must not relinquish meaningful human control over the use of force,” he clarified.

On Tuesday (6 October), MEPs will discuss with the Commission and the Council measures to make housing more affordable, while the following day will see a debate on the high cost of living. The spokesperson for the Renew Group, Linda Aziz-Rohlje, stated that “the Liberals and Democrats have chosen to take action,” not only “by securing a plenary debate with the Commissioners and the Irish Presidency for next week, but also by launching, earlier this week, a 10-point action plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.” This is also a key issue for The Left: the group’s spokesperson, Thomas Everett Shannon, stated that the “group has never given up the fight to reduce the cost of living,” constantly striving “to ensure that the issue of affordability is debated at every plenary session, and that every amendment we table moves in this direction.” The spokesperson for Europe of Sovereign Nations, Vijay Monany, did not share this view. For the sovereigntists, the high cost of living is attributable to European energy policies which “have resulted in higher taxation compared with other areas.” Furthermore, “European policy has helped to weaken, if not actually neutralise, the ability of some Member States to produce abundant, low-cost and low-carbon energy,” he clarified.

As regards the Muslim Brotherhood network, on Wednesday (7 October), Parliament will discuss the need for an EU strategy to protect “the European way of life from foreign interference and will vote on the matter on Thursday.” According to Michael Strauss, spokesperson for the Conservatives and Reformists Group, “it is positive that the silence is finally being broken.” Various “governments and security services have warned that the Muslim Brotherhood is pursuing a long-term strategy aimed at building its influence through NGOs, youth organisations, religious bodies, civil society groups and, in some cases, political parties, including by gaining access to European institutions.” Therefore, his group believes that it is necessary to support “the inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood and their network in the EU list of terrorist organisations.”

English version by the Translation Service of Withub