The European Commission has outlined the five reform objectives for the EU's future budgets and medium-term framework. The sixth objective, a bigger EU budget, is the proverbial elephant in the room. At a workshop of the European Committee of the Regions, Michael Thöne outlines how a stronger focus on European public goods could be organised and financed in an ever more federal EU. Many questions remain to be answered, not least the future role of traditional EU tasks such as cohesion policy.