This CSDN Background Paper provides the policy and budgetary context for the April 2026 Policy Meeting on conflict prevention, peacebuilding and crisis response in the next Multiannual Financial Framework. Prepared by the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) ahead of the meeting, it offers a concise overview of how the EU has funded conflict prevention and peacebuilding under the current budget cycle and what the Commission’s proposed framework for 2028–2034 would mean in practice.
The paper traces the architecture of the current NDICI-GE instrument, explaining how peace and security have been addressed across its geographic, thematic and rapid response pillars, and where gaps have emerged. It then turns to the Commission’s July 2025 proposal for the next MFF, examining the key structural shifts it introduces: the merging of external action instruments into a single Global Europe regulation, the increased emphasis on geographic programming, the changes to budgetary flexibility and thematic targets, and the proposed approach to fragile contexts.
It also highlights one of the most consequential changes for peacebuilding practitioners: the narrowing of the conflict sensitivity requirement, which under the current instrument applies to all EU-funded actions but would be significantly restricted in scope under the Commission’s proposal.
Read the background paper to understand the financial architecture that shaped the meeting’s discussions and the key provisions at stake in the negotiations ahead.
