The first vice president of the Government and minister of Economy, Trade and Business, Carlos Cuerpo, emphasized this Thursday that the advance of the general elections to November 29 will not weaken Spain's position in the discussions about the next budget framework of the European Union for 2028-2034, and he highlighted that the Executive will continue to defend "ambitious" accounts as long as negotiations are open.
Upon his arrival at the meeting of the Eurozone ministers of Economy and Finance (Eurogroup) in Luxembourg, Cuerpo stressed that "Spain's position is very clear and we will continue to defend it until the last minute while these negotiations last. This Government is clear that we want an ambitious European budget, that we want a European budget that also defends the main European policies, not only competitiveness, which is essential, but also policies that are very important for our country, such as cohesion policy or also the Common Agricultural Policy."
The Minister of Economy referred to the possible effect of the new electoral calendar in Spain on discussions that are now entering their key phase, with the aim of reaching a political agreement among the Twenty-Seven before the end of the year and avoiding that the various electoral calls planned in 2027 in several member states add more difficulties to the dialogue.
In this context, the Irish presidency of the Council plans to send this Saturday a new version of the so-called 'negotiation box', the document that concentrates the main elements and figures on which the capitals must agree, before the heads of state and government examine the budget at the European summit on October 15 and 16.
Cuerpo described this moment as "This is the beginning, we would say, of this last phase of the negotiation. The leaders will have to discuss it next week at the European Council and it will be very intense months regarding this budget discussion."
Spain —aligned with countries like Portugal and Italy in defending a more ambitious financial framework against partners like Germany or the Netherlands, who advocate for significant cuts— aims to maintain the weight of traditional policies, such as cohesion and the CAP, while also addressing new priorities, including competitiveness.
In order to create additional margin, the minister has highlighted the Spanish proposal to "reprofile" the payment of the interest on the Next Generation debt, an initiative that, he indicated, would open "a certain budgetary space" to reconcile the different priorities of the future multiannual financial framework.
"Spain comes with proposals to find bridges between different positions," Cuerpo emphasized, who recalled that these proposals come from a country that is becoming a net contributor to the EU budget, a circumstance that, in his view, provides them with "an additional element of credibility."
After the October summit, the Twenty-Seven will still have two key meetings before the year ends to try to finalize the agreement: on November 26 and 27, reserved for a possible extraordinary summit dedicated to the budget, and the European Council on December 17 and 18, the last ordinary meeting of 2026, in which it is hoped to seal the definitive political pact.