EU countries on Tuesday reaffirmed their control over the proposed €2 trillion EU budget for 2028 -2034 while agreeing to examine limited revisions from the European Commission aimed at addressing concerns from farmers and regions.
After weeks of threats from MEPs to reject key parts of the plan, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen successfully appeased lawmakers by suggesting targeted legal tweaks and brokering a high-level meeting on Monday with Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who represents the Council presidency.
“Today marks an important victory for the European Parliament,” said Siegfried Mureșan, the lead negotiator from von der Leyen’s centre-right EPP group, welcoming new safeguards for regional involvement, a dedicated rural funding target, and a steering mechanism to boost MEPs’ influence.
But von der Leyen’s proposed changes will only take effect if EU countries choose to adopt them – something they have not and will not promise, four EU diplomats told Euractiv. Two of them said the Danes had told EU ambassadors during a meeting on Tuesday that they had not been forced to compromise with MEPs.
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However, several countries expressed willingness to include the Commission’s proposed agriculture and regional measures in their ongoing budget work. Those changes are “quite cheap,” said one EU diplomat, since they largely overlap with measures already discussed in the Council.
By contrast, diplomats said, von der Leyen’s suggestions to expand Parliament’s influence over spending decisions received a cooler reception and are unlikely to advance.
Even if all the proposed amendments are implemented, farmers, regional representatives and Parliament’s centre-left S&D group maintain that the changes remain largely cosmetic.
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