Cyprus President Christodoulides: EU must agree budget by year-end — Cyprus Mail

As Cyprus Mail reports, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said that the European Union must agree on the next multiannual financial framework for 2028–2034 by the end of 2026. According to him, an agreement should be reached no later than the conclusion of the EU leaders’ meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on December 17–18.

Negotiations before the December meeting

According to Christodoulides, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he would not negotiate the budget after December. In this regard, European Council President António Costa convened an extraordinary summit for November 26 and 27.

Before the summit, Costa is to present a third EU budget proposal for the next multiannual financial framework. Christodoulides claims that Costa insists on agreeing the budget before the end of the December meeting, and that continuing negotiations in 2027 would not be acceptable.

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Differences over the timeline and amount

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda suggested that negotiations could continue until February, calling the year-end deadline very ambitious. He explained the complexity of the process by the snap general election in Spain scheduled for November 29.

The European Commission initially proposed a budget of €1.76 trillion. In June, the Cypriot government presented an option of €1.73 trillion, while last month Ireland proposed a budget of €1.62 trillion — 8% less than the European Commission’s initial proposal. Christodoulides had previously allowed that the final amount could be more than 10% lower than the original draft.