Geopolitics Turns the EU Budget into a ‘Constitutional Laboratory’
The war on Europe’s doorstep, support for Ukraine, new defense spending requirements, and an increasingly unstable international context are profoundly changing the way the European Union raises and uses its financial resources. It is not simply a matter of increasing spending, but of rethinking the legal instruments that allow the EU to act in response to the new geopolitical landscape without amending the Treaties.
This is the central theme of the scholarly editorial “EU Funding in Times of Geopolitical Turbulence: A Constitutional Laboratory”, which introduces a special issue of the Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law edited by Rosalba Famà and Eleanor Spaventa (both from the Department of Legal Studies, Bocconi University; BLEST—Bocconi Lab for European Studies and IEP) together with Marco Fisicaro (Department of Legal and Economic Studies, Sapienza University of Rome). The publication is based on papers presented at the conference held in May 2025 at Bocconi University, organized by Eleanor Spaventa and Rosalba Famà with the support of BLEST and the Invernizzi Foundation
A laboratory for experimenting with new rules
To describe what is happening, Famà, Spaventa, and Fisicaro choose an image that is unusual for a work on European law:
“EU institutions have exhibited notable creativity in forging financial solutions with few precedents, turning European public finances into an arena of legal experimentalism: a constitutional laboratory.”
The phrase “constitutional laboratory” encapsulates the central idea of the study. Faced with geopolitical turmoil, the Union did not amend the Treaties but began experimenting with novel financial instruments within the existing legal framework. The European budget has thus become the testing ground for financial innovations with significant constitutional implications.
In fact, it was precisely this succession of crises—from the pandemic to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—that forced Brussels to experiment with tools that, until just a few years ago, seemed out of the question, transforming European finance into one of the main drivers of integration and solidarity within the EU.
The turning point came with the pandemic. For the first time, the Union raised substantial funds on the financial markets to finance not only loans but also grants to member states through the Next Generation EU program. This exceptional response, the authors note, is gradually becoming a model destined to outlast the emergency.
From reimbursing expenses to funding results
The legacy of COVID-19 is particularly evident in the proposal for the new Multiannual Financial Framework for the period 2028–2034. The Commission aims, in fact, to change the criteria by which many European funds are distributed: the system will shift from one based on reimbursing incurred expenses to a mechanism that provides resources for achieving objectives and reforms agreed upon with Member States within specific plans. To describe the scope of this change, the authors use another eloquent image:
“...a Copernican revolution for the governance of the EU budget.”
The new system promises to focus more on results, but it also raises questions about the transparency and democratic legitimacy of budgetary decisions. If funding depends on achieved objectives rather than documented expenditures, it becomes more difficult to track the use of public resources in detail, and there is a risk of undermining the role of parliaments and local authorities in matters of EU spending.
Defense, Ukraine, and common debt: the new face of the European budget
The other major transformation stems from the changed geopolitical landscape. Security and defense, traditionally marginal items in the EU budget, are taking center stage. This is demonstrated by the new SAFE instrument, financial support for Ukraine, and the Commission’s proposals for the 2028–2034 Financial Framework.
At the same time, the use of common European debt is growing, with the debt stock set to reach one trillion by the end of 2026. Following the post-pandemic instruments, the Commission is proposing new (semi-)permanent borrowing mechanisms designed to address future emergencies. If approved, these would consolidate a European fiscal capacity that, until just a few years ago, seemed almost unimaginable.
The study, which brings together contributions from six authors, also highlights another trend: the European budget is increasingly being used as a lever to steer Member States’ policies. Access to funds is gradually being linked to compliance with the rule of law, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and other strategic priorities of the Union. This development expands the political weight of the European budget, but also makes the balance between solidarity, oversight, and Member States’ autonomy more delicate.
The future of integration hinges on public finances
The innovations introduced over the past six years are gradually evolving from exceptional tools into structural components of European public finance. Furthermore, the new Multiannual Financial Framework for the period 2028–2034 will define the Union’s priorities for the next phase of its evolution amid a particularly turbulent landscape, with the aim of putting European competitiveness back at the center.
In particular, the European budget can no longer be viewed as a mere accounting tool but is increasingly strategic in nature. The ongoing crises have accelerated a process of innovation that is reshaping the functioning of the Union and gradually expanding the scope of fiscal action provided for in the Treaties.
According to Famà, Spaventa, and Fisicaro, therefore, European integration today increasingly depends on the ability to design new financial instruments that address these challenges. Europe’s true testing ground lies not only in the halls where institutional reforms are negotiated, but also in the rules governing how the Union raises, lends, and invests its resources. And it is precisely in this arena that a decisive part of the future of European integration could be played out.
