EU Council President to table new EU budget proposal for 2028-2034

EU Council President Antonio Costa will present a new proposal for the EU budget for 2028-2034 in the coming weeks, as positions at Thursday's summit in Brussels were further apart than expected. A special leaders' meeting is planned for November 26, with a potential final agreement at the regular summit three weeks later. Costa aims to address three key areas: preventing national contributions from reaching politically unacceptable levels, developing new EU own resources with the Commission and member states—including exploring a 6G frequency auction revenue source—and maintaining budget flexibility for unforeseen crises. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said the Irish presidency's proposal lacks a basis for agreement due to its high volume. The budget divides the "Frugal" states (Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Sweden) against the "Friends of Cohesion" group of 16 countries favoring a large budget. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called negotiations very difficult, emphasizing the need for significant volume reductions and bureaucracy cuts. The summit also addresses EU enlargement proposals and continued Ukraine support.