Weekly MFF update 🧵 ◇ EU leaders will discuss the budget for the first time in the European Council this week, hoping to agree on an ambitious negotiation timeline www.euractiv.com/news/budget-...

NEW: Italy threatens to block the only substantive MFF-point in the draft EUCO conclusions over paybacks to the richest EU countries www.euractiv.com/news/italy-t...

Parliament’s budget committee finally resolved its fight over who should lead work on the MFF files, easing tensions between political groups. REGI and AGRI still need to find a compromise on Monday. www.euractiv.com/news/meps-en...

"The current GNI corrections will be [discontinued] OR [maintained]" reads the new Council negotiating box, a change from previous versions that grants Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria a powerful bargaining chip. www.euractiv.com/news/rich-eu...

Weekly MFF update: www.euractiv.com/news/budget-... Tensions are high as MEPs fight to resolve a spat over who should be rapporteurs on the €865 billion national plans. Group leaders of EPP, S&D and Renew meet today.

First MFF numbers from Parliament! Size: €1.783 trillion, or 1.27% of the EU’s GNI (constant 2025 prices, not counting NGEU repayments) NRPPs: +€89bn ECF: +€24bn Horizon: +€18bn CEF: +€8bn It also floats a digital services tax, more here: www.euractiv.com/news/parliam...

No better time than today for a reminder from @elisabraun.bsky.social that Brussels' standard response to scandal is a shrug. But sometimes, the names involved "are big enough to pierce the Bubble’s thick skin," she writes. www.euractiv.com/opinion/the-...

EXCLUSIVE: Procurement fraud, corruption, and criminal conflict of interest. Latest major scandal hits the EU institutions as police raid EU External Action Service and College of Europe in sweeping fraud probe 🔗 http://dlvr.it/TPZh1K

Weekly MFF Update! 🧵 www.euractiv.com/news/budget-...

The Commission should turn its simplification agenda on itself to cut costs, say EU governments. www.euractiv.com/news/capital...

After a night of heavy Russian bombardment, a Ukrainian delegation is heading to the United States for talks with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, @wulffwold.bsky.social reports www.euractiv.com/news/ukraini...

Erasmus may become one of the few programmes that escape the Commission's recasting of everything into "competitiveness" in the next EU budget www.euractiv.com/news/an-undi...

An internal council document reveals a bitter fight between richer and poorer countries over the design of the proposed €234 billion European competitiveness fund www.euractiv.com/news/poorer-...

Weekly MFF update! 🧵 www.euractiv.com/news/budget-...

If we don't even know whether the rushed sweeping cuts to privacy will help European businesses, then what's the point? Seems like panic will just harm everyone @claudiemoreau.bsky.social www.euractiv.com/news/eus-dig...

Both Iceland and Norway have reacted strongly to the EU Commission not exempting them from new metal-trade protective measures www.euractiv.com/news/iceland... www.euractiv.com/news/norway-...

Parliament’s rebellion against the EU budget is now called off, after von der Leyen suggested legal changes to her own budget proposal. As institutional tensions ease, parliament divisions re-emerge. www.euractiv.com/news/disunit...

Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin vowed to consider legal changes after a high-stakes Wednesday meeting to prevent parliament rebellion against a key part of the Commission’s €2 trillion budget proposal. www.euractiv.com/news/commiss...

The European Commission “is ready at the technical level” to change its €2 trillion, seven-year budget plan, and MEPs will force it to do so anyway if it outright refuses, the European Parliament’s co-lead negotiator Siegfried Muresan told me. www.euractiv.com/news/intervi...

EU countries are divided on the reforms, and today's budget debate will expose whether the Danes really have the backing they need to charge ahead with the controversial new budget structure www.euractiv.com/news/danish-...

While Parliament is mired in infighting over the proposed 2028-2034 EU budget, capitals are moving ahead with the Commission’s framework, according to a draft document obtained by Euractiv. www.euractiv.com/news/eu-coun...

The Commission is open to “improving” regional involvement in their controversial budget centralised budget proposal, Fitto said on Thursday. www.euractiv.com/news/the-com...

Leaders of the political groups will delay resolving two key disputes over the EU’s long-term €2 trillion budget due to internal disagreements, several European Parliament sources told Euractiv. www.euractiv.com/news/parliam...

A parliament move to block the €865 billion national plans would be self-defeating, say analysts. The move is causing concern among EU diplomats, who fear budget talks will be hindered and politicised at a time when swift agreement is needed. www.euractiv.com/news/parliam...

Parliament is on the verge of moving to block half of the Commission's MFF proposal www.euractiv.com/news/sd-epp-...

The EU’s richest countries are rebuffing demands from the bloc’s smaller economies to "geographically balance" the proposed €234 billion competitiveness fund. www.euractiv.com/news/france-...

The proposed EU Budget lumps virtually all policy areas into only three main files, but maximum three over 20 parliament committees can lead on each of those, setting the stage for an all-or-nothing fight between the different committees. www.euractiv.com/news/meps-pr...

Exclusive: €122 billion of the Commisssion's revenue plan for the next budget may have been effectively shot down by EU countries last week. www.euractiv.com/news/for-edi...

Parliament and regions are outraged over their lack of inclusion in the Commission’s €2 trillion budget proposal for 2028 to 2034, but according to budget chief @sriso.bsky.social, it’s all just a big misunderstanding. www.euractiv.com/news/commiss...

Europe looms large in Norway's national election today – but only beneath the surface. Most Norwegians are blissfully unaware of the European dimension of their politics and their political parties are happy to keep it that way. www.euractiv.com/section/poli...

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How will Trump respond to this? @anupriyadatta.bsky.social has this huge story here. www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

Don’t trust the Commission's budget spin! They proposed to slash farmer subsidies by a whopping 34% in real terms, or €155 billion in current prices, in the 2028-2034 EU budget. www.euractiv.com/section/econ...

[Opinion] At this point, Meta has no credibility to criticise EU rules, and any AI rulebook Meta would voluntarily follow would be a cop-out. A good sign, then, that the company rejected the EU’s Code for general-purpose AI like ChatGPT. www.euractiv.com/section/poli...

For those who doubted whether the Commission could really be serious about merging two thirds of the €1.2 trillion EU budget, I present to you: “The European Economic, Territorial, Social, Rural and Maritime Sustainable Prosperity and Security Fund.” www.euractiv.com/section/econ...

Will EU countries accept a bigger budget and the Commission’s radical reform ideas? I reach out to all 27 states and decoded public and non-public position papers to map out all their positions. Buckle up for negotiations! www.euractiv.com/section/econ...

It’s here! Von der Leyen’s new industrial superfund will merge activities from up to 14 existing budget lines into one cash pot to free up private capital. www.euractiv.com/section/econ...

Don't absolve yourself from the responsibility of managing EU funds, @tonymurphyeca.bsky.social urged the Commission, slamming its core ideas to reform the next EU budget in an interview with me and @nkurmayer.bsky.social. www.euractiv.com/section/econ...

Had a chat with Stuart Russell at a critical time for the EU AI Act www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

Struggling to follow the MFF debate? Here’s how the EU's current €1.2 trillion budget is spent, and how it may (radically) change for 2028-2034 www.euractiv.com/section/econ...

The US loves to criticise EU tech regulation, but is wrestling with an increasingly complex regulatory environment at home. www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

The Commission used its 2024 budget review to pre-pitch its MFF proposal, praising reform-conditional RRF funding and channelling funds to strategic technologies though STEP, foreshadowing a competitiveness fund. www.euractiv.com/section/econ...

Germany wants cohesion funds to be conditional on national reforms, endorsing the Commission's favoured approach. They endorsed a stand-alone CAP “with rural development as an integral part,” and a “strengthened and independent” R&I programme. www.euractiv.com/section/econ...

Polish Council Presidency suggests to “stop-the-clock” on AI act implementation. The Code of Practice on General Purpose AI, initially planned for 2 May, is running over a month behind schedule. http://dlvr.it/TL90hv

Today: Von der Leyen presents a radical budget overhaul to the 26 Commissioners, locking in national plans and a mega competitiveness fund in the Commission’s proposal for the next ~€1.5 trillion budget. www.euractiv.com/section/poli...

Tech companies were granted privileged access to drafters of the EU's GPAI Code of Practice, leading to reduced copyright and discrimination risk requirements, @corporateeurope.bsky.social and @lobbycontrol.bsky.social alleged in an investigation published today. www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

The Commission is "assessing" copyright, DMA, DSA and media law implications of Google's AI Overviews. With the overviews, Google takes more content from publishers while likely generating less traffic to their websites. www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

Ten months after a legal backlash forced Meta to halt its training on EU citizens’ facebook and instagram posts, the company is resuming the practice. Meta says a recent EDPB opinion “affirmed” the legality of their approach. www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

Failing to enact a strict open source definition "would risk undermining the implementation of the AI Act, putting citizens' rights at risk, and harming European Competitiveness," 30 MEPs wrote in a letter sent to the Commission on Thursday. www.euractiv.com/section/tech...

Before the EU's landmark AI Act is even halfway to fully entering into force, the Commission is eyeing revisions. "I don't see that it's harming anyone if we are cutting some reporting applications," Henna Virkkunen said. www.euractiv.com/section/tech...