Presidents, prime ministers and chancellors across Europe will pack
their bags later this week in preparation for a long weekend in
Brussels. They won’t, however, be taking in the baroque majesty of the Grand Place
or savouring the local culinary treats. Instead, they will be preparing
for that most infamous of events, a “four shirter”, to use the
clothes-packing gauge adopted by male diplomats to measure the length
and horror of EU leaders’ summits in the Belgian capital. The thorny
subject this time around? Money. And the problem? Britain.
The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union
has left a huge €75bn (£62bn) hole in the bloc’s budget for the next
seven years, 2021 to 2027. “And now we are fighting like ferrets in a
sack,” said one EU diplomat with a sigh.
Covering items ranging from agricultural subsidies to science
programmes and the EU’s efforts to combat the climate emergency, the new
multi-annual financial framework (MFF) needs to be agreed by the
leaders and an increasingly unpredictable European parliament before the
end of the year. Without agreement, everything risks grinding to a halt
in just nine months’ time, including the flow of cohesion funds, the
cash dedicated to supporting the poorest member states.
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The Terrible, Troubling Test
9 hours ago
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