The European Union is increasingly shaping policy not only through regulation, but also through the mobilisation and allocation of financial resources. This year’s ACELG Annual Conference examines how common borrowing, new revenue instruments and expanded spending programmes are transforming the nature of European integration and political authority. As financial questions move to the centre of policymaking, the conference explores what this shift means for governance, solidarity and democratic legitimacy within the EU. The programme focuses on the Union’s growing capacity to raise and spend money through initiatives such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Just Transition Fund and strategic investments in digitalisation, energy and competitiveness. Participants will discuss how questions of contribution, redistribution and conditionality are reshaping relationships between member states and redefining the balance between regulation and public finance as instruments of European governance. Bringing together scholars and practitioners in European law and governance, the conference provides a forum for debating the implications of the EU’s evolution from a predominantly regulatory project into a polity increasingly driven by financial capacity. Central to the discussion is the question of what kind of political community emerges when the raising and spending of money become key mechanisms of integration.