Brussels, Belgium, 17 July 2025 —  Imogen Sudbery, Senior Director of Europe Advocacy, International Rescue Committee, says:

"The proposal to allocate €200 billion to the EU’s external action budget could be cause for optimism. At this moment of growing global unrest and instability, the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) marks a golden opportunity for the EU to reassert itself on the world stage and demonstrate true leadership.

"However, the Commission’s proposal to merge external action funding instruments under the new Global Europe fund must be carefully managed to mitigate significant potential risks - particularly for people living in the world’s most fragile countries. Any attempts to remove both existing spending targets and guaranteed annual humanitarian budgets could result in even less EU funding being available for countries facing the highest needs. These changes would not just threaten to undermine the EU’s moral responsibility and its founding values, but its own strategic interests and global stability in our increasingly interconnected world.

"If done right - with robust safeguards in place - the reimagined Global Europe fund provides an opportunity to ensure greater coherence across the EU’s humanitarian, development and peace efforts. It could allow for underspent funds to be redirected towards the areas of acute need, and enable a more nimble response to sudden developments in crisis contexts. As negotiations on the MFF progress, a careful balance must be struck between this flexibility to respond to shifts in the external landscape and the predictability of funding, which remains essential. This should include annual minimum humanitarian  budgets, and a firm guarantee that humanitarian principles will be the starting point for all humanitarian action.

"In order to tackle today’s global challenges and support communities in crisis over the longer-term, the Global Europe Fund needs to ringfence at least 15% of its budget to strengthen partnerships with civil society organisations on the frontlines, and a further 35% for climate action.

The Commission has previously said its external action should be guided by Europe’s strategic interests while staying true to European values. The next MFF is its chance to deliver on both counts. It is now up to EU states and the Parliament to ensure this becomes a reality."