This CSDN Meeting Report presents the discussions from the July 2026 Funding Instruments Meeting on trends in peace, security, stability and crisis response funding under the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2028–2034). The meeting brought together 66 participants from civil society, EU services, Member State agencies and international organisations.
The report traces how EU representatives set out the process for thematic programming under the next MFF, including the expected geographisation of external action funding, and captures civil society’s concerns about what that shift could mean for issues that don’t fit neatly into short-term political priorities. It also draws out lessons from the current 2021–2027 Multi-annual Indicative Programme, from the case for greater funding flexibility to the need for longer-term financing modalities that support trust-building over time.
Participants identified the issues most likely to remain central through 2034, climate change, disinformation, mediation, engagement with armed and de facto authorities, alongside newer challenges that have emerged since 2021, including the erosion of multilateralism, shrinking civic space, and the impact of artificial intelligence and critical minerals on conflict dynamics.
The report closes with twelve recommendations for EU policymakers, including maintaining a distinct area of intervention for conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and investing more directly in local civil society actors through more flexible funding and contracting approaches.
Read the report to see what shaped the discussions and what’s at stake for peace and security programming in the next EU budget cycle.
