How the EU’s Next Long-Term Budget Will Affect People Living with Lung Cancer
More than 490 healthcare experts, researchers, academics, and patient advocates have signed a joint letter to EU leaders calling for a dedicated, ring-fenced health budget in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028-2034.
Every year, Europe loses €442 billion in productivity because of avoidable deaths linked to non-communicable diseases, according to the World Health Organization. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Europe. Around 484,000 people receive a new diagnosis every year.
As the EU negotiates its next long-term budget, health funding is not guaranteed a place at the centre of those discussions. Lung Cancer Europe believes it should be. Lung Cancer Europe President Debra Montague has signed a joint letter to EU leaders alongside more than 490 healthcare experts, researchers, academics, and patient advocates calling for health to have its own dedicated, ring-fenced budget line in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028 to 2034.
Key takeaways
The EU is negotiating its next long-term budget, the MFF, covering 2028 to 2034
The current proposal merges health funding into a broader competitiveness fund alongside 13 other programmes, with no separate health budget line
Europe loses €442 billion in productivity annually due to avoidable deaths from non-communicable diseases (WHO)
More than 490 health and patient advocates have signed a joint letter calling for a dedicated, ring-fenced EU health budget
The European Parliament has called for €10.05 billion to be allocated to health in the next MFF
The European Council meets on 18 and 19 June 2026
Lung Cancer Europe has signed the letter
What is the MFF?
The Multiannual Financial Framework is the EU’s long-term budget. It sets out how much the EU spends, on what, and over what period. The current framework runs from 2021 to 2027. Negotiations for the 2028 to 2034 framework are now under way.
Under the European Commission’s current proposal, EU4Health, the dedicated EU health programme, would no longer stand as a separate budget line. It would be absorbed into a new European Competitiveness Fund, grouped alongside 13 other programmes covering areas including agriculture, biotech, and bioeconomy. Health spending would become harder to identify, harder to protect, and harder to hold to account.
Why does EU health funding matter for lung cancer?
Progress on early detection, biomarker testing, and equitable access to treatment for people living with lung cancer has depended, in part, on sustained EU-level investment. A budget structure that does not separately identify health funding makes it harder to maintain, monitor, and build on that progress.
The economic case for dedicated health investment is well established. Evidence from Horizon Europe indicates that each euro invested in health research can generate returns of up to €11. Europe currently spends approximately €1.7 trillion annually on healthcare, around 10 per cent of GDP. Without stronger investment in prevention, early diagnosis, and system efficiency, that figure is expected to increase.
In 2023, an estimated one million people under the age of 75 died from preventable or treatable conditions across Europe.
What does the joint letter ask for?
The joint letter, addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, and the governments of EU member states, makes two specific requests.
First, that health is ringfenced as its own budget line within the European Competitiveness Fund, separated from agriculture, biotech, and bioeconomy spending. Second, that a dedicated health component is secured within the second pillar of the Horizon Europe proposal.
The European Parliament has already called for €10.05 billion to be allocated to health within the 2028 to 2034 budget. Member states are now forming their positions ahead of the European Council meeting on 18 and 19 June.
Why Lung Cancer Europe signed
Lung Cancer Europe’s 2026-2030 Charter sets out eleven commitments to people affected by lung cancer across Europe. These include access to early detection and screening, equitable access to care regardless of geography or ability to pay, and high-quality data to improve outcomes. Each of these requires sustained, identifiable EU investment.
Debra Montague, President of Lung Cancer Europe, explains:
“Protecting health funding and access to lung cancer screening: these are not abstract positions. They are the difference between people getting diagnosed early and people being diagnosed too late.”
This is also consistent with Lung Cancer Europe’s position on the EU budget more broadly. Earlier in 2026, Lung Cancer Europe co-signed the WECAN open letter calling on EU institutions to protect cancer-related commitments in the next MFF.
What happens next
The European Council meets on 18 and 19 June 2026. Member states will be setting out their positions on the MFF proposal. The period between now and that meeting is when political engagement from the health and patient community can most usefully inform those positions.
Read the full joint letter and find out more at the European Cancer Organisation website.