Overview
- EU leaders met on Thursday in Brussels to push for a political deal on the 2028–2034 multiannual financial framework but left without agreement.
- The Irish presidency has proposed trimming the Commission’s near-€2 trillion plan by about 8 percent to roughly €1.6 trillion, a figure rejected as too small by cohesion supporters and too large by frugal states.
- Negotiators are split between frugal net contributors seeking further cuts and re‑prioritisation and 17 'friends of cohesion' led by Italy and Spain who want to preserve funding for agriculture and regional programmes.
- António Costa is leading a last‑ditch drive for a year‑end deal, yet the unanimity rule and a busy election calendar make a carryover into 2027 the likely outcome.
- A key unresolved issue is new EU 'own resources' such as a tobacco levy, corporate or tech levies, which could reduce national contributions but face sharp political resistance and will shape which programmes get funded.