Council president Charles Michel, speaking after the failure of the EU summit to reach a deal on the next long term EU budge. said, “The last weeks and the last days, we have worked very hard in order to try to reach an agreement regarding the next European budget.
Unfortunately, today we have observed that it was not possible to reach an agreement. We have observed that we need more time. We know that this European budget is a very difficult topic, it’s a very difficult negotiation, especially after Brexit and the gap between 60 and 75 billion euro.
We have worked very hard to try to reconcile the different concerns, the different interests, the different opinions on the table. But we need more time. It means that we will see in the future how it is possible to work on this topic in order to succeed, in order to get an agreement in the Council, to have unanimity in the Council.”
European parliament counterpart David Sassoli, said, “The European Parliament is disappointed by the failure of the European Council to find an agreement on the next Multiannual Financial Framework and on Own Resources.
If we want to be able to deliver on the expectations of our citizens, we need to back up our ambitions with sufficient funds. Europe is facing unprecedented challenges such as climate change, digitalisation and a new geopolitical order. We should also recall what the European construction, and especially the Single Market, have brought to our countries in terms of growth and development. Lowering our ambitions could only have a negative impact on years of progress and integration.
No country acting alone can effectively tackle these challenges and maintain the existing acquis. It is therefore essential to quickly find an ambitious agreement on the EU long-term budget and on own resources. I hope that the forthcoming negotiations will go in a better direction than those we have been witnessing over the last hours.
