If We Don’t Prepare Now, We’ll Only Be Passengers Later – Debate in Brussels on the 2028–2034 EU Budget

Csaba Borboly, Vice-President of the Harghita County Council and member of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), took the floor at the EPP-CoR Group meeting in Brussels during the debate on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028–2034.
The main guest speaker was Karlo Ressler MEP, EPP Coordinator in the European Parliament’s Budget Committee (BUDG).

Borboly underlined that Europe cannot exist without its regions and municipalities.

“People experience Europe through local services, schools, hospitals, and community life. If local and regional actors are marginalised in the next budget, Euro-scepticism will only increase.”

He warned that the 2028–2034 period will bring fewer available funds, which calls for immediate responsibility and action.

“This is our duty, especially towards the younger generation – students, graduates, and young professionals. If we don’t prepare today, by 2030 there will be nothing left to build with.”

Borboly stressed that the RMDSZ must act now at all levels – local, county, national, and European.

“Today we can still sit at the government table, plan, and steer decisions. But if we wait until next year, we’ll only be on the trailer – going wherever others take us. Now is the time to hold the wheel.”

Addressing the balance between nature and people, he noted that biodiversity directives have achieved many positive results, but have also created new local conflicts without financial instruments to manage them.
He called for dedicated European resources, possibly through a revised LIFE Programme, to support regions facing these challenges.

His intervention was well received by Karlo Ressler MEP and several EPP colleagues, who agreed that this debate is about shared European responsibility.

“We must work now – in Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, and at home in Székelyföld,” Borboly concluded.