Table of Contents

• Why the Multiannual Financial Framework matters for your business
• How the 2028–2034 MFF is organised
• Timeline: when to act
• The competitiveness pillar: the new EU Competitiveness Fund and the shift in priorities
• National and regional partnership plans: the tidal wave of local tenders
• Three strategic truths about public funding cycles
• Procurement changes to anticipate
• Real-world impacts: examples to watch
• Two horizons of opportunity: tactical and strategic activities
• How to use data and market intelligence effectively
• Practical checklist for companies preparing now
• How public-private collaboration shapes outcomes
• SMEs and start-ups: how to access this market
• Sovereignty, ownership and procurement filters
• Dual use and civil-military readiness
• Digitalisation, e-procurement and the data challenge
• Case study outline: positioning for a national hydrogen rollout
• Key metrics and KPIs for tracking your success
• Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
• Practical guide to influencing national plans
• What success looks like in 2028 and beyond
• Action plan: the next 90 days
• Closing thoughts
• Frequently asked questions

Why the Multiannual Financial Framework matters for your business

The European Union’s Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028 to 2034 is the single most important planning horizon for public money across the EU. It is not only a budget document. It is the road map that signals where public investments will flow, which sectors will receive priority, and how public procurement rules and eligibility are likely to evolve. For organisations that sell to the public sector, for innovators looking for grants, and for policy teams in industry, the MFF is the strategic blueprint you must understand now if you want to be competitive in 2028 and beyond.

Think of it this way: the MFF tells you where the money will be, then tenders translate that money into real projects, procurements, and partnerships. Early intelligence about allocations, priorities and rule changes gives you time to adapt product design, supply chains, partnerships and sales strategies rather than being forced into last-minute firefighting when calls for tenders are issued.

How the 2028–2034 MFF is organised

The tentative package presented by the European Commission shows a near €2 trillion budget divided into three practical pillars plus administrative costs. The two pillars most relevant to companies and public-sector suppliers are:

• Competitiveness: centrally managed programmes and funds, delivered through the European Commission and its agencies. This pillar focuses on R&D, innovation, strategic technologies and large Europe-wide procurement frameworks.
• National and regional partnership plans: allocations managed at the member state level. These include cohesion funding, recovery and resilience type investments and the new umbrella that groups several national allocations under one plan per country.

There is also a global pillar that channels funds to external partners, reconstruction efforts and geopolitical priorities. That pillar will be important for firms active in global infrastructure or reconstruction projects, particularly in neighbouring countries and regions subject to geopolitical support and reconstruction.

Timeline: when to act

The Commission’s proposal in July starts a negotiation phase that spans 2025 to 2027. The European Parliament and the Council will amend and finalise the text. The aim is to conclude by the end of 2027 so that first disbursements and programme launches can start in January 2028.

Negotiation is the time for influence. National plans will be drafted in the 12 to 18 months after the budget is decided, at country level, with input from regional authorities, NGOs, academia and the private sector. This window is your best opportunity to shape priorities and the rules that will govern national tenders.

The competitiveness pillar: the new EU Competitiveness Fund and the shift in priorities

The competitiveness pillar is more than an extension of Horizon and the usual Brussels-managed programmes. The Commission proposes a new EU Competitiveness Fund that consolidates a strategic push towards autonomy and resilience. The fund is split into distinct windows that will influence procurement demand across Europe:

• Defense and security — the largest slice. Defence is no longer a niche, taboo or R&D-only field. Expect large calls in areas such as drones, military mobility corridors, crisis preparedness, civil protection and dual-use technologies.
• Digital — cloud, AI, quantum, connectivity and infrastructure to grow European champions and reduce dependency. A clear emphasis on sovereign solutions will shape procurement rules.
• Clean transition — hydrogen, heat pumps, renewable energy technologies, industrial decarbonisation and related supply chains.
• Health and biotech — building resilience in pharma and medtech, regional manufacturing capacity and R&D for critical healthcare technologies.

Alongside these new windows, expect traditional programmes such as Horizon to be strengthened, with significantly larger budgets for R&D, innovation and scaling of European technologies.

National and regional partnership plans: the tidal wave of local tenders

The second pillar aggregates cohesion, agricultural, border and internal security funding into a single national and regional partnership plan per member state. Each country will negotiate its large allocation and then convert that allocation into sectoral priorities, project pipelines and procurement plans at national and local levels.

For suppliers, the practical consequence is a likely tsunami of tenders starting in 2028 across thousands of projects: roads, hospitals, public buildings, IT systems, social infrastructure, green energy installations and service contracts. Which sectors and regions get most tenders will depend on the national plan a government chooses to write. Being part of the consultation and drafting process is therefore essential.

Three strategic truths about public funding cycles

1. Where the money goes shapes market opportunity. A large allocation for clean transition in a member state translates into a multi-year pipeline of projects that create demand for products, installations and services.
2. Rules create winners and losers. Procurement rules, eligibility criteria and sovereignty requirements can exclude or favour certain suppliers.
3. Early engagement changes outcomes. Organisations that help design project scopes, influence national priorities and secure partnerships are often better placed when tenders are published.

Procurement changes to anticipate

Procurement rules will not remain static. They evolve as the EU updates legal frameworks in line with strategic goals. Several trends deserve attention:

• Sovereignty and “made in Europe” requirements. Procurement may increasingly favour suppliers with European ownership, control or a demonstrable European supply chain. This is not a single uniform test at present. Legal, operational and supply chain factors will be used to assess sovereignty on a case-by-case basis. Expect cloud, finance systems and defence to be leading sectors for this trend.
• Dual use and resilience. Dual use is no longer automatically excluded from research funding. Infrastructure and systems may need to meet both civilian and defence-ready specifications, for example, transport corridors that can support military mobility as well as civilian traffic.
• Green requirements and certification. Procurement will increasingly embed environmental standards and lifecycle assessments. Certification and demonstrable decarbonisation pathways will be competitive advantages.
• SME access and fragmentation into smaller lots. Policy goals prioritise SME participation, but historical data shows large tenders remain common. Expect a mix of large frameworks and deliberately smaller lots for SMEs, depending on procuring authority practice.
• e-Procurement and data standards. Greater digitalisation, better tender data and APIs are promised, but implementation is uneven across member states. Organisations that invest in data-driven monitoring will gain tactical advantage.

Real-world impacts: examples to watch

Several concrete areas will generate high volumes of tenders and projects:

• Digital sovereignty procurements: national cloud, secure data infrastructure and AI platforms for public administrations; expect strict eligibility checks and technical specifications prioritising European control.
• Defense and civil protection: from drones and sensors to logistics corridors and dual-use network infrastructure; smaller specialised suppliers can benefit if they align with consortium partners.
• Clean energy and industrial decarbonisation: hydrogen projects, heat pump rollouts, solar and wind installations, and grid upgrades.
• Healthcare manufacturing and biotech: local manufacturing of critical supplies, digital health platforms and emergency preparedness systems.
• Reconstruction and cross-border resilience: large-scale projects in neighbouring regions, especially where geopolitical support funds are allocated for rebuilding infrastructure.

Two horizons of opportunity: tactical and strategic activities

Organisations should manage two parallel workstreams in the run-up to 2028.

Short to medium term: tactical work

There is money left to spend in the current 2021–2027 cycle. Member states and institutions must absorb funds or risk underspending. This creates late-cycle opportunities for suppliers in the next two years:

• Monitor prior information notices and procurement plans for near-term tenders.
• Target contracts that end in one to two years and prepare successor proposals.
• Use analytics to decide whether to bid: check competitor strength, past winners, typical contract values and evaluation criteria.
• Prepare bid templates, consortium agreements and proof points so that you can respond quickly to calls.

Strategic work for 2028 and beyond

Simultaneously, build longer-term capabilities to capture the larger MFF 2028–2034 wave:

• Map national and regional plans as they emerge and engage in consultations early.
• Revise product road maps and R&D pipelines to match priority windows like digital sovereignty, defense, green transition and healthcare.
• Certify products where regulation will demand compliance: environmental standards, data protection, supply chain transparency and security.
• Shape partnerships that combine local presence with technical depth so you can meet both eligibility and delivery constraints of new procurements.

How to use data and market intelligence effectively

Market intelligence is no longer optional. The EU procurement landscape is too fragmented and nuanced to rely on ad hoc information. Organised, cleaned and contextualised data makes the difference between wasted effort and strategic wins.

Focus on these analytical building blocks:

• Historical spending analysis: who has been paid, how much and for what types of contracts. This shows where capacity and past demand exists.
• Buyer and authority mapping: which agencies, ministries and authorities buy particular categories of goods or services.
• Competitor landscape: which companies win similar contracts repeatedly and at what scale. Knowing dominant players helps you form partnerships or decide not to bid.
• Tender typology and evaluation models: price-weighted tenders, best value scoring, technical-only evaluations and the typical scoring weights for each buyer.
• Rule and policy monitoring: follow legislative changes, national procurement rules and emerging eligibility standards across member states.

Practical checklist for companies preparing now

Use this practical checklist to translate strategy into action.

• Decide whether to pursue a short-term tender or build for a 2028 pipeline. Both approaches can run in parallel.
• Conduct a three-layer opportunity assessment: 1) Sector priority alignment, 2) Market size and buyer mapping, 3) Competitive intensity.
• Audit compliance and sovereignty gaps: ownership structure, supply chain localisation and certification needs.
• Build alliances: local partners, system integrators, research institutions and SMEs to strengthen bids and meet local content rules.
• Prepare proof of delivery: case studies, pilots and references that match the technical and value criteria expected in tenders.
• Invest in data tools to track procurement plans, prior information notices and domestic tender portals across relevant countries.
• Engage with national consultations and public hearings to influence national and regional partnership plans before they are finalised.
• Design modular products and delivery models so you can bid for small lots as well as larger frameworks.

How public-private collaboration shapes outcomes

Spending large sums effectively requires co-design. Public authorities increasingly look for project partners who can bring private sector innovation, delivery capacity and finance in blended models. Firms that can demonstrate how they will co-invest, share risk and scale solutions are more likely to be selected for both grants and major tenders.

Engagement can take several forms:

• Participate in public consultations on national plans, programme manuals and funding criteria.
• Offer to co-design pilots with public authorities so that project specifications lock in later procurement opportunities for your solution.
• Collaborate with industry associations to present common priorities and technical standards to national or EU-level policymakers.

SMEs and start-ups: how to access this market

Policy signals favour SME participation, but practical barriers persist. Big frameworks, complex tender dossiers and strict certification can deter smaller firms. To stay competitive, SMEs should:

• Use data to find appropriately sized and local procurement opportunities.
• Join consortia where large partners provide delivery capacity while the SME supplies specialised innovation.
• Package solutions in modular form so they can be procured as smaller lots.
• Seek grant programmes targeted at SMEs such as innovation accelerators and interregional collaboration funds.
• Invest in compliance and documentation upfront so that eligibility checks do not disqualify otherwise strong offers.

Sovereignty, ownership and procurement filters

One of the biggest shifts to watch is how procuring authorities assess whether a supplier is sufficiently European or sovereign. There is no single definition applied across all programmes, but a typical set of considerations includes:

• Legal domicile and ownership structure.
• Operational control and critical governance rights.
• Supply chain traceability and localisation of critical components.
• Compliance with national security and data protection laws.
• Environmental standards and lifecycle resilience.

Because definitions will vary by fund and sector, treat each opportunity as a separate risk assessment. For some tenders, full European control may be required. For others, demonstrable European partnerships and supply chain commitments may suffice.

Dual use and civil-military readiness

Historically, research programmes excluded dual-use applications. That is changing. The new environment accepts that some technologies will have both civilian and defence applications. Procurement and funding calls are increasingly explicit that infrastructure and systems will need to be resilient and, in specific cases, support dual-use scenarios.

Designing products with clear separation of civilian and defence functions, robust governance, and built-in traceability will increase your chances in a market where resilience, not only performance, is a purchase criterion.

Digitalisation, e-procurement and the data challenge

Greater digitalisation of procurement processes is both a promise and a challenge. The goal is interoperability, standard APIs and cleaner tender data. Reality is fragmented portals, different data standards and inconsistent use of e-procurement across member states.

To succeed, you will need to invest in systems that aggregate and normalise tender data, monitor procurement plans across multiple portals and surface tactical opportunities quickly. This investment reduces the noise and helps you focus on high-probability tenders.

Case study outline: positioning for a national hydrogen rollout

Consider a hypothetical case where a member state plans a large hydrogen infrastructure package under its national partnership plan. How should a company respond?

• Map the national plan as published and identify the hydrogen allocation and procurement timeline.
• Engage with the ministry and regional authorities during plan drafting to influence scope and technical standards.
• Form a consortium with local installers, an equipment supplier and a financier to meet local content and delivery expectations.
• Ensure product compliance with environmental standards and labelling required by procurement.
• Prepare a staged delivery model: pilot phase, scaling phase and maintenance phase, which fits both grant-funded pilot competitions and later procurement frameworks.

Key metrics and KPIs for tracking your success

Measure both input and output indicators to keep your MFF strategy on track. Useful KPIs include:

• Number of consultations and policy meetings attended per quarter.
• Number of relevant prior information notices and tender pipelines monitored weekly.
• Hit rate on tenders submitted versus wins achieved.
• Time from tender publication to bid submission readiness.
• Share of revenue coming from EU-funded contracts versus domestic non-EU contracts.
• Number of consortium partnerships formed and maintained.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Avoid these common mistakes:

• Relying solely on intuition and desktop research rather than cleaned procurement data.
• Waiting until tenders are published, by then it may be too late to build the right partnerships.
• Underestimating the administrative burden and documentation required for EU-funded projects.
• Failing to audit supply chains for sovereignty and sustainability requirements in advance.
• Competing head-on with incumbents when a partnership or subcontracting approach would be smarter.

Practical guide to influencing national plans

If you want to shape national and regional partnership plans, follow a structured engagement process:

1. Identify the responsible ministry or coordinating authority and subscribe to their cooperation channels.
2. Understand the consultation timeline and deliver inputs at the earliest stages when scope is still malleable.
3. Provide clear, evidence-based proposals: model projects, expected budgets, readiness timelines and partner roles.
4. Coordinate with industry associations to present unified asks and technical standards to the government.
5. Offer to pilot solutions with co-financing to reduce perceived risk for public buyers.

What success looks like in 2028 and beyond

Success is not just winning tenders. It is having a predictable pipeline of projects, a resilient supply chain, and the strategic partners required to deliver sustained value through the MFF cycle. Winners will be organisations that:

• Combine tactical responsiveness to current tenders with a long-term positioning strategy for 2028–2034.
• Invest in compliance and localisation where required by sovereign procurement rules.
• Use data to target the right buyers and form partnerships that close capability gaps.
• Engage early in shaping national plans so that public procurement reflects industrial reality and market capacity.

Action plan: the next 90 days

To translate insight into progress, use this short action plan:

1. Run a rapid market scan of your top three target countries to map likely MFF allocations relevant to your products.
2. Identify two pilot partnerships you can propose to a public authority as proof of concept.
3. Initiate an internal compliance audit focused on sovereignty, environmental certification and data security gaps.
4. Subscribe to national procurement portals and set up automated monitoring for prior information notices and procurement plans.
5. Schedule meetings with industry associations and, where possible, national contact points responsible for EU funds.

Closing thoughts

The next MFF is a strategic event that will shape markets for the better part of a decade. Early intelligence and early action equal competitive advantage. The questions to keep in mind are pragmatic: Is it real? Can we win? And what is it worth? Use those questions to prioritise investments, partnerships and go-to-market plans.

“Is it real? Can we win? And what’s it worth?”

Frequently asked questions

What is the Multiannual Financial Framework and why is the 2028–2034 cycle important?

The Multiannual Financial Framework is the EU’s seven-year budget plan that sets spending priorities and maximum allocations. The 2028–2034 cycle is important because it dictates where public investment will flow, establishes funding programmes and influences procurement rules that will generate tenders and contracts across member states.

When will the 2028–2034 MFF be finalised and when will disbursements start?

Negotiations run from 2025 through the end of 2027 between the Commission, the Parliament and the Council. If the timetable holds, programme decisions and disbursements can begin in January 2028. Early engagement during 2025 to 2027 provides the best chance to influence priorities.

What are the main funding pillars relevant to suppliers?

The two main pillars for suppliers are the Competitiveness pillar, covering centrally managed programmes and the new EU Competitiveness Fund, and the National and Regional Partnership Plans, which channel allocations managed by member states for cohesion, recovery and sectoral investment.

How will procurement be affected by the new MFF?

Procurement will evolve with an increased focus on sovereignty, green standards, resilience and potentially more SME-friendly lotting. However, implementation will vary by programme and member state, so treat opportunities on a case-by-case basis and prepare to meet new eligibility and certification requirements.

What does “sovereignty” mean for suppliers and how will it be assessed?

Sovereignty assessments typically consider legal ownership, operational control, supply chain localisation and compliance with security and data protection rules. There is no single uniform test across all funds; different programmes will apply different criteria depending on sectoral risks and national priorities.

How can SMEs access MFF-funded opportunities?

SMEs should pursue modular lots, join consortia with larger partners, use targeted grant programmes, and invest in compliance and documentation. Data tools that identify suitably sized tenders will also help SMEs avoid wasting effort on oversized opportunities.

What is dual use, and how does it affect research and procurement?

Dual use refers to technologies that can have both civilian and military applications. Policies are shifting to accept some dual-use research and infrastructure requirements, especially in defence and critical infrastructure, which means suppliers may need to demonstrate robustness and governance provisions for dual-use functionality.

How should organisations split their focus between current funding cycles and preparing for 2028?

Manage two parallel workstreams. Maintain tactical responsiveness to tenders and recovery spending in the 2021–2027 cycle while also investing in strategic positioning for 2028: influencing national plans, redesigning products for priority windows and building partnerships that match future procurement eligibility needs.

What are the best sources of market intelligence for EU-funded procurement?

Track historical spending databases, national procurement portals, EU tender databases, prior information notices and national procurement plans. Use platforms that normalise and clean this data to produce buyer maps, competitor analysis and tender readiness reports.

How can organisations influence national and regional partnership plans?

Engage early in public consultations, provide evidence-based proposals, coordinate with industry associations, offer to pilot projects and form coalitions that can present coherent technical and implementation plans to the responsible ministries and authorities.