Overview
- EU heads met in Brussels on Thursday to try to agree the next seven‑year budget before a wave of 2027 national elections, but discussions remained divided and unresolved.
- France’s National Assembly voted to include a €30.9 billion French contribution for 2027, a move that Paris says locks in commitments while opponents at home seek to reduce or delay payments.
- Marine Le Pen travelled to Brussels and publicly urged leaders to postpone adoption until after France’s presidential vote, pressuring other capitals and raising the risk of a blocked deal.
- Ireland’s EU presidency has proposed cuts of about €140 billion versus the Commission’s roughly €2 trillion plan, and frugal states led by Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands are pushing for deeper reductions.
- Key fights still to settle include the size of the envelopes for Ukraine and defence, farm and cohesion payments, investment in AI, plans for migrant centres and Paris’s push for new EU taxes to raise revenue.