António Costa, the President of the European Council, stressed on Monday the need to reach an agreement on the EU’s next seven-year budget by the end of 2026, according to sources from ČTK. At the summit in Brussels, he called on member states to take responsibility as budget negotiations took place on the first day of the meeting. The Irish presidency has proposed cutting the budget to 1.622 trillion euros, which is 8% less than the European Commission’s original 2025 proposal of 1.763 trillion euros, according to a report from Czech newspapers.
The European Council called on Costa to continue negotiations with a view to reaching an agreement in time for the adoption of legislative acts in 2027 and for EU funds to be transferred to beneficiaries without interruption in January 2028. At the same time, the need to keep national contributions within reasonable limits and maintain the level of ambition was stressed, which includes the use of new own resources such as revenues from emission allowances, carbon tax and tobacco tax was stressed. Costa plans to work with the Commission and Member States to update these resources, which should be presented in the coming weeks.
Costa Urges EU Budget Deal by Year-End
At the same time, the need for flexibility was mentioned so that the budget could respond to unexpected circumstances. An extraordinary budget summit is due to be held at the end of November, with the hope of a final agreement at the end of December.
Babiš Condemns Commission’s Tax Proposals
Andrej Babiš has rejected the European Commission’s proposals for new budget sources, including tobacco taxation, which he says are “absolutely unacceptable” demands. “They want to take three percent of that from us,” said Babiš, who also criticized emission allowances and the carbon tax. According to him, Czech industry would lose 159 billion euros if the changes were not introduced. Babiš also drew attention to the uneven burden on states within the ETS, with some countries paying less for electricity than the Czech Republic, which he says represents an “unfair” distribution of costs.
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