Italy warned on Tuesday it will block even the modest draft conclusions on the EU’s next seven-year budget unless controversial rebates worth more than €9 billion a year are removed from the talks.
“There is no valid reason to include in the conclusions of the next European Council the objective of concluding the agreement on the future European financial plan by 2026,” reads a press release from the Italian government.
“This is especially true after the inclusion of rebates to satisfy the demands of the frugal countries,” the statement adds.
Last week, the rebates were added to a Council budget negotiating document, triggering strong objections during a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday, four diplomats told Euractiv.
The rebates compensate the richest EU countries for their high GNI-proportional contributions to the bloc’s common budget, and benefit Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Austria. They are opposed by the Commission, EU spending auditors, MEPs, analysts, and all EU countries that don’t receive them.
Rich EU countries keep ‘unjustified’ paybacks on the table for next budget
Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria get billions of euros in rebates each year…
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The controversy is now spilling over into this week’s summit of EU leaders. Italy promising to block the only substantive point in draft European Council conclusions seen by Euractiv, which merely “welcome” progress so far and call for an agreement by the end of 2026.
Diplomats fear a far-right election victory in France in April 2027 could complicate or stall the talks if the budget is not settled beforehand.
Italy’s European Affairs Minister Tommaso Foti laid out his country’s demands to other EU ministers on Tuesday, who will debate the full seven-year EU budget proposal later in the day.
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