As part of the activities of the PromethEUs network, the Elcano Royal Institute organized a workshop in Madrid on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, entitled “Making the EU’s 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework Work for Southern Europe.”

The conference provided an opportunity for the PromethEUs network to present and discuss preliminary findings, in view of the final report to be presented in Brussels in November, on the European Commission’s proposal for the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and its implications for Southern Europe. The meeting brought together representatives from public administrations, academia, industry associations, and think tanks from Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece.

The main topics discussed were the budget allocation in the new MFF, the European Competitiveness Fund, digital leadership, and the Horizon Europe programme. Aggelos Tsakanikas, head of the Laboratory of Industrial and Energy Economics (LIEE), presented the joint work with Postdoctoral Researcher Petros Dimas (in progress) on the digital footprint of previous HorizonEU programs in SMEs and Southern Europe, with excellent comments from Dimitris Liakos.