The European Union is currently negotiating its next long-term budget, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework or MFF. The decisions made now will influence whether health promotion and the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, cancer and other non-communicable diseases receive the sustained support they need.
What is the Multiannual Financial Framework?
The Multiannual Financial Framework, usually shortened to MFF, is the European Union’s long-term budget. It sets the EU’s spending priorities and limits over a seven-year period.
The European Commission has proposed a budget of approximately €2 trillion for 2028 to 2034, which will support areas including regional development, research and innovation, education, agriculture, preparedness, social policies and international cooperation.
Although the term may sound technical, the MFF has practical consequences for people across Europe. It influences which programmes receive funding, what countries and regions can invest in and how the results of EU spending are assessed. It is therefore more than a financial plan: it is also a reflection of Europe’s long-term political priorities.
Why does the structure of the budget matter for health?
Under the current EU budget, EU4Health is a dedicated programme with clearly defined public health objectives and eligible activities. At least 20% of its budget must be reserved for health promotion and disease prevention.
The Commission’s proposal for 2028 to 2034 would not retain EU4Health as a standalone programme. Instead, many health activities would be brought into the much broader European Competitiveness Fund. Health could also receive support through Horizon Europe, National and Regional Partnership Plans and the reinforced Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
Health promotion and disease prevention are included in the proposal. However, health would sit within a broad policy window covering health, biotechnology, agriculture and the bioeconomy. The share of funding dedicated specifically for health is not defined, and there is no equivalent to the current requirement that at least one fifth of the EU4Health budget be reserved for health promotion and disease prevention.
A more flexible and cross-sectoral funding model may offer new opportunities. At the same time, broad funding structures can make public health priorities less visible and predictable. Without clearly protected resources and more detailed objectives, prevention may have to compete with wider industrial, technological and economic priorities.
The question is therefore not simply whether health appears in the next EU budget. It is whether health promotion and prevention will receive the funding, visibility and implementation support required to make a lasting difference.
Prevention is an investment in Europe’s future
Cardiovascular diseases, cancer and other non-communicable diseases place a major burden on individuals, families, health systems and economies across Europe.
Many cases can be prevented or delayed by addressing tobacco and nicotine use, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity, as well as the wider social, environmental and commercial conditions that shape people’s health.
Sustainable prevention requires more than individual campaigns or short-term projects. It depends on skilled professionals, strong public health institutions, reliable evidence, cooperation between sectors and the capacity to implement effective policies at national, regional and local levels.
A healthier population supports stronger communities, more sustainable health systems and a more resilient economy. Health is therefore not separate from Europe’s ambitions for competitiveness and prosperity. It is one of the foundations needed to achieve them.
The JA PreventNCD response
In response to the proposed budget structure, the JA PreventNCD position paper calls for health promotion, non-communicable disease prevention and health equity to be made visible, adequately funded and measurable throughout the next MFF.
The position paper calls for:
- A clearly defined health allocation within the European Competitiveness Fund;
- Health promotion and prevention to be integrated into National and Regional Partnership Plans;
- Health promotion, prevention and health equity to be embedded in the Union Civil Protection Mechanism;
- Protected funding for health within Horizon Europe, including research on prevention and health inequalities;
- Stronger performance indicators covering prevention, equity and long-term population health outcomes.
These indicators should go beyond showing how much money was spent or how many activities took place. They should help demonstrate whether EU investments improve health, reduce inequalities and contribute to healthier living conditions.
An encouraging step, but the work continues
On 26 June 2026, the Council adopted its partial negotiating position on the proposed performance framework regulation for the next MFF. Several recommendations from the JA PreventNCD position paper were reflected in the Council text, either word for word or through closely aligned wording. This is an encouraging step towards ensuring that health promotion, non-communicable disease prevention and health equity are better reflected in how future EU investments are monitored and assessed.
However, the legislative process is not complete. The European Parliament has not yet adopted its position on this specific regulation, while the overall structure and financial allocations of the next MFF also remain under negotiation.
Continued attention is therefore needed to ensure that prevention is not only recognised through objectives and indicators, but also supported by clear priorities, adequate funding and the capacity to turn evidence into sustained action.
