In July 2025, the European Commission presented its proposal for long-term budget for the period 2028-2034This financial framework, worth around €2 trillion (1,26% of the European gross national income), aims to build a Europe that is more resilient, more competitive, and closer to its citizens. But beyond the figures, this new budget cycle raises a key question: how can we ensure that European funds become a real lever for the emancipation and participation of rural youth?
This future budget places at the heart of its priorities:
- skills and training, to respond to ecological and digital transitions;
- territorial cohesion, with programs designed to reduce gaps between regions;
- citizen participation, especially young people, through initiatives such as Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps and youth programmes.
For young people in rural areas, this means more than just access to funding: it's the opportunity to be actors in transformations, not just spectators. The Commission wants this budget to be deployed through national and regional partnership plans, co-developed with local authorities and stakeholders. This approach paves the way for better consideration of rural realities, provided that young people in these areas are involved from the design stage of public policies. This is the challenge: making young people in rural areas not the "beneficiaries" of European policies, but full partners in the European project.
At the heart of this budgetary strategy, the European Commission proposes to increase the budget of the Erasmus+ program by 50% for the period 2028-2034, bringing it to €40,8 billion. This announcement, presented on July 16, 2025 by President Ursula von der Leyen, is in line with an already strong momentum: between 2014 and 2025, the program doubled the number of mobilities, exceeding one million beneficiaries across Europe. Erasmus+ will thus remain one of the flagship programs of the European budget, a concrete tool for openness, dialogue, and equal opportunities.
For rural youth, European funds can become concrete tools for transformation:
- support mobility projects and cooperation between European territories;
- finance local participation spaces, where young people debate and propose solutions for their community or region;
- encourage citizen initiatives around the environment, digital technology or culture;
- strengthen the visibility of rural routes, by promoting local know-how, commitments and innovations.
Between cohesion, sustainability, and civic engagement, the future 2028-2034 budget could become a tool for democratic outreach. Provided that the voices of young people, particularly those in rural areas, are heard and integrated into the construction of the Europe of tomorrow. Because investing in young people means investing in the power to act, dialogue and democracy in the heart of the territories.
