APPF should also be granted authority to im­pose more substantial and varied sanctions for non-compliance, including suspensions, funding cuts and temporary bans from participating in EU-funded activities. Lastly, it should review the appointment process of its leadership structure in order to ensure that the agency remains inde­pendent. 7. Internal democracy support beyond AgoraEU While the main funding for democracy support comes from the new AgoraEU programme, there are further budget lines in the new MFF proposal that touch upon democracy, al­though to a much lesser extent. These include the EU’s flagship research programme, Hori­zon Europe; the Competitiveness Fund and the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs), which include cohesion and agricul­tural funding. There are also references to funding for democracy under the Global Eu­rope instrument for external relations, which will be discussed in the next section. Under Horizon Europe, democracy is included as a»societal challenge« under the second pillar of the budget,»Competitiveness and Society«. Funding can therefore be allocated to this ob­jective, but without ring-fenced amounts. While there has been a net increase in the budget of Horizon Europe. with an allocation of€175 bil ­lion, the general focus is on boosting EU com­petitiveness. There is thus a risk that democracy will be viewed only through the economic lens, rather than as a fundamental pillar of the eco­nomic system. The EU should thus mandate the integration of democracy-support objectives (participation, representation, fundamental rights, anti-disinformation initiatives, civic en­gagement) into other clusters of Horizon Eu­rope, including those focused on digital affairs, health care, the environment and security. In addition, it could prioritise research on threats to democracy, such as disinformation, foreign interference, online hate, declining trust in institutions and challenges posed by so-called»AI« in order to better equip policy­makers with evidence-based measures. Hori­zon-funded democracy and governance re­search could be further linked to the new Ago­raEU programme, external action funds for democracy, and relevant initiatives in enlarge­ment and neighbourhood policy, and main­stream the research findings into policy and programme design. It could also scale up ex­isting networking actions on democracy that provide actionable policy recommendations and deliver capacity-building for democratic innovation and citizen engagement. In common with Horizon Europe, there is no ring-fenced funding for democracy support in the Competitiveness Fund. The merging of the LIFE programme into the European Competitive­ness Fund and its replacement with»LIFE ac­tions« means that no clear funding has been al­located for civil society organisations active in the climate field. In view of the political attacks against climate policy and, in particular, civil so­ciety organisations advocating stronger climate action, this merger could mean a reduction of funding and less support for a crucial sector in the civic ecosystem. 16 Finally, in the new National and Regional Part­nership Plans(NRPPs), EU member states are largely free to allocate funds across regions and policy priorities. These plans make up almost half of the total EU budget proposed by the Commission and integrate 14 different EU pro ­grammes, most notably agricultural and cohe­sion funding, While some safeguards on cli­mate-related funding are included, along with some social investments linked to the European Social Fund and the Just Transition Fund, as well as direct income support for farmers, there is no ring-fenced funding for democracy-related 16  Civil Society Europe(2025): Civil Society Europe’s Reaction to the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034: Progress for Some, Setbacks for Others (July). Internal democracy support beyond AgoraEU 9