The Maastricht Policy Hackathon (MPH)

Do you want to have your say about what priorities the EU should spend its money on? Studio Europa invites ambitious students and young professionals to take part in the Maastricht Policy Hackathon on 26 September.

***Dit evenement is in het Engels***

The Maastricht Policy Hackathon is a 24-hour, interdisciplinary policy challenge at The Social Hub in Maastricht. For this edition, Studio Europa has put forward a case with real political weight: the future of the EU budget.

From 2028, the EU will operate under a new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the seven-year budget that shapes what the EU can and cannot do. Defence, climate, digitalisation, healthcare: all of it depends on it. But how to fund that budget is dividing the member states, and time is short.

Participants work on proposals for the 2028–2034 MFF from three angles:

• One group looks at new ‘own resources’ for the EU: taxes that the EU collects itself and that flow straight into the EU budget.
• A second group looks at asking member states to pay more into the budget, or at scaling back what the EU wants to do.
• A third group asks whether the whole question of ‘EU taxes versus higher national contributions’ can be avoided, for example by using more private money instead of public money to fund Europe’s priorities.

A jury of UM academics assesses each proposal, and all participants vote on their preferred combination. Guided by mentors from academia, industry, and public institutions, teams gain hands-on experience at the intersection of policy, data, and innovation, and compete for prizes and recognition.

The hackathon is delivered in collaboration with Studio Europa, Data for Public Impact Network, The Social Hub Maastricht, MAIN Maastricht, and Collabotics.

Interested in taking part? Sign up for the Maastricht Policy Hackathon here!