EU Budget Proposal Leaves Health Without Protected Funding

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Written By Web Team
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In brief

The Irish Presidency's latest proposal for the EU's 2028–2034 budget would cut planned funding for health research and emergency preparedness, and it still gives health no ring-fenced budget. Lung Cancer Europe is calling for at least €10.05 billion to be ring-fenced for health, including at least €2.5 billion for cancer. Key votes in the European Parliament in November offer a chance to change course.

Key figures

  • €141 billion: how much the proposal would take off the European Commission's original budget plan, a reduction of 8%

  • Almost 10%: the proposed cut to Horizon Europe, the EU's main research programme, which funds cancer research

  • 35%: the proposed cut to civil protection and health emergency preparedness

  • 47%: the share of the overall reduction that would fall on the part of the budget that includes health, which makes up only 30% of the budget

Source: Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU; European Cancer Organisation analysis, October 2026

Lung Cancer Europe is deeply disappointed by the Irish Presidency's latest proposal for the EU's 2028–2034 long-term budget. It would cut planned funding for health research and emergency preparedness, and it still gives health no dedicated, ring-fenced budget.

The proposal comes as EU leaders meet in Brussels on 15 and 16 October, and ahead of key votes in the European Parliament in November. We have published a position statement setting out what the proposal means for people affected by lung cancer and what we are asking EU decision-makers to do.

What has the Irish Presidency proposed?

Ireland holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU until the end of 2026 and is leading negotiations between Member States on the next long-term budget. On 10 October, it presented a revised proposal that would reduce the European Commission's original plan by €141 billion, or 8%.

According to analysis by the European Cancer Organisation:

  • Horizon Europe, which funds research and innovation including cancer research and the EU Cancer Mission, would be cut by almost 10%, with no minimum set for health or cancer research

  • The funding window covering health, biotechnology, agriculture and the bioeconomy would be cut by 13%

  • Funding for civil protection and health emergency preparedness would fall by 35%

Health sits within the part of the budget covering competitiveness, prosperity and security. That part makes up 30% of the budget but would absorb 47% of the proposed reduction.

Negotiations are continuing and nothing is final. But the proposal raises serious concerns about the priority given to health.

What does this mean for people affected by lung cancer?

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Europe, and access to progress remains unequal. Where someone lives can still affect how quickly they are diagnosed, whether they can get biomarker testing and which treatments are available to them.

EU funding helps address these gaps. It supported SOLACE, which worked to improve access to lung cancer screening, and it continues to support research through projects such as i3LUNG and IDERHA, where Lung Cancer Europe brings the perspectives of people affected by lung cancer. Cutting future research funding, and leaving health without protected funding, could make it harder to support similar work in the years ahead.

Decisions on healthcare services and spending rest largely with individual countries. But EU funding and coordination help countries make progress together, especially in research, knowledge-sharing and collective action.

What is Lung Cancer Europe calling for?

In our position statement, we urge EU institutions and Member States to:

  • Ring-fence at least €10.05 billion for health in the next budget, including at least €2.5 billion for cancer, with clear accountability for how it is spent

  • Protect health and cancer research, including a dedicated health component within Horizon Europe

  • Back Europe's Beating Cancer Plan with the resources needed to deliver it

  • Make reducing inequalities in cancer care a priority, so more people benefit from advances in diagnosis, treatment and care, wherever they live

The €10.05 billion figure is the level the European Parliament's Public Health Committee called for in its 28 September report on implementing Europe's Beating Cancer Plan.

These asks build on calls we have made throughout the year. In April, we co-signed the WECAN open letter calling for a dedicated EU health programme and protection of Europe's Beating Cancer Plan. In June, our President, Debra Montague, joined more than 490 experts in calling for a ring-fenced health budget and a dedicated health component within Horizon Europe. We also support the European Cancer Organisation's Reach Higher for Cancer Care campaign.

What happens next?

There are clear opportunities to change course, and some encouraging signs. Austria, Czechia, Luxembourg and Slovenia are among the Member States calling for dedicated health funding or governance in the next budget, and half of the European Parliament's lead budget negotiators have called health an investment priority.

The key dates ahead:

  • 15 and 16 October: EU leaders meet in Brussels

  • 10 November: the European Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy Committee votes

  • 11 November: Parliament is provisionally due to vote on its Beating Cancer Plan report

  • December: final budget negotiations

We urge members of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee to back the amendments for a dedicated, ring-fenced health window in the European Competitiveness Fund when they vote on 10 November.

Europe cannot set ambitious goals for cancer care while putting the investment needed to achieve them at risk.

 
Read our position statement
 

Frequently asked questions

What is the EU's long-term budget?

The long-term budget, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework, sets how much the EU can spend, and on what, over seven years. The next one will run from 2028 to 2034. Member States must agree it unanimously, and the European Parliament must give its consent.

Why does the EU budget make a difference to lung cancer care if health is a national responsibility?

Countries run their own health services, but EU funding supports research, screening projects and cooperation that help countries make progress together. SOLACE, i3LUNG and IDERHA have all been supported by EU funding.

What does ring-fenced funding mean?

It is money set aside for a specific purpose that cannot be moved to other priorities. Without a ring-fenced health budget, health has to compete with other areas for the same funding.

How can our organisation help?

Contact your MEPs, especially members of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee, before the vote on 10 November, and share our position statement with them.


Sources


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