Traditional divides between ‘frugal’ and ‘cohesion-friendly’ EU countries resurfaced
Debate over spending red lines and how to use the EU budget to deepen single market integration dominated a meeting of EU ministers on Wednesday.
The General Affairs Council on the EU’s next seven-year spending plan, known as the MFF, came just weeks before the Cypriot EU presidency is expected to start circulating the first indicative spending figures, a step that will formally shift talks from principles to hard numbers and cash.
“A lot of the heavy lifting in delivering this [single market] road map will have to be done at the level of regulation, but the EU budget can also play an important supportive role … if it is adequately equipped,” Piotr Serafin, the EU’s budget commissioner, said.
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