The Commission's 2026 work programme: contents and testable points

What a Commission work programme is

Each year the Commission adopts a work programme listing the most important new policy and legislative initiatives it will take in the year ahead. The Commission's work-programme page calls it "a key vehicle to deliver on commitments outlined in the Political Guidelines and the mission letters". After adoption it is presented to the European Parliament plenary and then to the General Affairs Council.

The rules for it sit in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making) of 13 April 2016, section II, "Programming":

• Paragraph 6: a dialogue before and after adoption, including a "letter of intent" from the Commission President and First Vice-President, and an exchange of views after the debate on the State of the Union.
• Paragraph 7: after adoption, the three institutions agree a joint declaration on annual interinstitutional programming, signed by their Presidents.
• Paragraph 8: what each entry must show, as far as available.

Paragraph 8 continues: for each item the programme indicates the intended legal basis, the type of act and an indicative timetable. That is why each Annex I entry of the 2026 programme carries a quarter, and most legislative entries a Treaty article.

The 2026 programme at a glance

The communication is headed "Commission work programme 2026, Europe's Independence Moment", Strasbourg, 21.10.2025, COM(2025) 870 final. It says it draws on the President's Political Guidelines, the mission letters and the ideas in the 2025 State of the European Union address, and that it is "structured along the main headlines set out in the Political Guidelines", "updated for today's new realities". Its framing sentence: "this must be Europe's Independence Moment".

Annex III's own numbering runs to 112 entries, one more than the Commission's page states. If a question asks for the number of pending proposals, the page's 111 is the published figure.

Themes in the main text

• Simplification first. "The Commission has already put forward omnibus and other simplification proposals aiming to bring more than EUR 8.6 billion in annual savings for European businesses." More than half of the legislative initiatives "will focus on making EU law lighter, clearer and easier to implement", and the 25% and 35% burden targets are restated. See simplification and the omnibus packages.
• Better regulation. A communication on a "more rigorous and structured application of the proportionality principle" was announced for the first half of 2026. The programme was presented together with the first annual Overview Report on Simplification, Implementation and Enforcement.
• Budget. The text speaks of "the proposed EUR 2 trillion Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028 to 2034". The proposal itself, COM(2025) 570, gives EUR 1.98 trillion, or 1.26% of EU GNI. Both describe a proposal, not the current MFF; see the MFF explained.
• Enlargement. The pre-enlargement policy reviews, promised in the Political Guidelines for the first 100 days, are to be presented "soon".

The main text's section titles echo the seven chapters of the 2024-2029 priorities, with some new wording, such as "Upholding democracy, the rule of law and protecting our values" and "Preparing for the Union of tomorrow".

Annex I: new initiatives, with quarters

Annex I groups its 38 policy objectives under six of the seven Guidelines headings. The seventh, "Delivering together and preparing our Union for the future", has no section in this annex. A selection, with the quarter given in the annex (all in 2026):

Initiatives with a strong simplification dimension are shown on a blue background in the annex. Each entry also names its Treaty basis, for example Article 114 TFEU for the Digital Fairness Act and Article 153 TFEU for the Quality Jobs Act.

Withdrawals and the other annexes

• Annex II, the annual plan on evaluations and fitness checks: 20 entries, starting with the evaluation of the Chips Act (Q1 2026).
• Annex III, pending proposals the Commission keeps on the table, starting with the bilateral safeguard clause for the EU-Mercosur agreements.
• Annex IV, withdrawals: 25 proposals that the Commission "intends to withdraw within six months". The first is the 2013 proposal for a Council directive on enhanced cooperation in the area of financial transaction tax, COM(2013) 71.
• Annex V, envisaged repeals: one act, Council Regulation (EC) No 3036/94 on outward processing for certain textiles and clothing, which the annex says "has never been practically used".

For contrast: the 2025 programme

The 2025 programme, COM(2025) 45 of 11 February 2025, "Moving forward together: A Bolder, Simpler, Faster Union", was the first of the mandate. Mixing up the two years is an easy way to lose a point.

The Joint Declaration on the EU legislative priorities for 2026

As paragraph 7 of the Interinstitutional Agreement requires, the Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed a joint declaration drawing on the programme. It was published in the Official Journal as C/2025/6793 on 23 December 2025. It opens by naming the Political Guidelines 2024-2029 and the Strategic Agenda for 2024-2029 as the guide to collective action, and gives "utmost priority" to six headings:

1. Usher in a new era for European defence and security
2. Secure Europe's sustainable prosperity, competitiveness and simplification
3. Strengthen our societies and our social model and quality of life
4. Ensure a comprehensive approach to border management and migration
5. Protect our democracy and uphold our values
6. Leverage our global influence and partnerships

Note the differences from the Guidelines: defence comes first, migration has its own heading, and quality of life is merged with the social model. The declaration then lists the legislative proposals to prioritise in 2026, among them the Automotive Package and the Critical Medicines Act.

Position at each cut-off, and what came later

The programme (21 October 2025) and the Joint Declaration (23 December 2025) predate every 2026 cut-off: AD5 on 29 May 2026, AST3 in mid to late June 2026, AD6 and AST2 on about 5 to 6 October 2026 (all our estimates; see the content cut-off explained). What the Commission actually adopted during 2026 is another matter, dated item by item:

• A better-regulation communication, COM(2026) 380, was adopted on 28 April 2026: inside the AD5 cut-off.
• The omnibus on taxation and the omnibus on energy product legislation, both planned for Q2 2026, were presented on 24 June 2026 as COM(2026) 560 and COM(2026) 565: later than the AD5 cut-off, in scope for AD6 and AST2.
• As of 26 October 2026, the Commission's work-programme page lists no 2027 programme. A 2027 programme adopted from now on would fall after every 2026 cut-off.

For a question on the 2026 programme, quote the programme, not what happened later: an initiative "planned for Q2 2026" is a fact about the document, whether or not it arrived on time. The packages adopted in 2025 are dated in the 2025 packages.

Try questions like this in our free 30-question test, each with its source. The full mocks run with AD or AST timing, under Commission or open-competition rules, in English, French or German.