The president of the European Council, António Costa, has called this Thursday on the heads of state and government of the European Union to boost the negotiation of new sources of income to sustain the next multiannual financial framework of 2028-2034. His appeal comes after the latest offer from the Irish presidency, which included an additional cut of 8%, failed to bring the positions of the Twenty-Seven closer, still very divided on the overall volume of future accounts and the level of national contributions.
After more than five hours of deliberations at the Brussels summit, the community leaders have closed the session without notable advances or relevant concessions in their positions, according to several diplomatic sources. The governments demanding greater spending discipline maintain their pressure to introduce new cuts, while others, including Spain, insist on safeguarding the ambition of the budget and protecting traditional policies such as cohesion and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Although the meeting this Thursday was not aimed at closing a definitive pact, the gathering has served to confirm, according to the same sources, that the path of cuts is practically exhausted and that it is necessary to delve into the issue of own resources, a chapter that, in the opinion of several delegations, has been sidelined in the preparation of the latest draft compromise.
In light of this situation, Costa has emphasized that new own resources must be incorporated into the solution to achieve an agreement, a matter on which there is still a wide margin for "technical and political" work, although the leaders have shown willingness to continue analyzing different options despite the reservations that persist in some capitals, according to European sources.
In this regard, the same sources point out that the priority is to reach a balance between the total dimension of the budget, national contributions that member states consider manageable, and additional financing formulas that allow avoiding both excessive cuts in spending and an excessive increase in government contributions.
New negotiation proposal in the coming weeks
With the positions still very far apart, Costa will now directly take the political lead in the conversations, which until now have been in the hands of the rotating presidency, and will open a round of bilateral contacts with the delegations to prepare a new version of the so-called "negotiation box," the document that gathers the main options regarding the size, design, and funding sources of the budget.
According to European sources, the idea is to present a revised text in the coming weeks, although a specific date has not yet been set nor has it been defined whether the total volume of the accounts should be increased or reduced compared to the last proposal, given that all elements are part of the same package that must be agreed upon as a whole.
Among the still open issues are the new funding sources, which face objections from several member states, although during the meeting the leaders' willingness to continue working on them and to analyze other alternatives, including those suggested by the European Parliament, has been confirmed.
In particular, the proposal under discussion raises contributions linked to large companies, tobacco, and electronic waste, in addition to reinforcing revenues from the carbon border adjustment mechanism; but it excludes options advocated by the Eurochamber to tax large digital platforms, cryptocurrencies, and online betting.
Objective of an agreement before the end of the year
Despite the absence of tangible progress, the Twenty-Seven maintain as a political reference to close an agreement before the end of 2026, although they have avoided formally setting that timeline in the conclusions of the summit, in which they limit themselves to asking Costa to continue the negotiations in order to reach a commitment "on time."
In the approved document, the leaders emphasize that sealing the pact before the end of this year would allow for the processing during 2027 of the necessary legislative acts to ensure that European funds reach their recipients "without interruptions" starting in January 2028, the date on which the new community budget will begin to apply.
In this context, the option of calling an extraordinary summit on November 26 --three days before the elections in Spain-- to try to channel the negotiations remains on the table, although the meeting has not yet been formalized and, in any case, would take place after the informal European Council that will bring together the leaders in Dublin on November 13.