This episode of EuropeChats is a discussion between Klaus Welle, Former Secretary-General of the European Parliament, and TEPSA Secretary-General Jim Cloos. The discussion focuses on the EU long-term budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), covering the years 2028 – 2034.
The MFF sets the EU’s financing methods and policy priorities for the next 7 years. This episode looks at the history of the MFF, its evolution through the years, and its ability to address the challenges the EU is facing. It also explores the Commission’s recent proposal for the next MFF and questions whether it can be considered a ‘Hamiltonian moment’ for Europe.
Klaus Welle is the former Secretary-General of the European Parliament. He chairs the Martens Centre’s Academic Council since April 2023, and, in May 2025, he was appointed Special Advisor to the Commissioner for Defence and Space.
EuropeChats is TEPSA’s talk show dedicated to answering your questions about the European Union. If you ever wondered what competences the EU has, what effects its policies have on your day-to-day life, and why the EU is so important, then this show will give you all the answers you need! Every episode we will be answering your questions about Europe and the EU.
Jim Cloos is TEPSA’s Secretary-General, and has spent a lifetime in the heart of Brussels. As the former Deputy Director General for General and Institutional Policy at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, he was involved in European decision-making at every level. He had a key role in drafting the Maastricht Treaty during the Luxembourgish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 1991, and has an intricate expertise on EU Affairs and the internal functioning of the European institutions. There is no-one better placed to answer any question about Europe that you might have.
