| In a rare occasion of open and far-reaching political conflict in Brussels, a German fiscal hawk and a Portuguese Socialist, both in high positions, clashed this week over the EU’s second-biggest pot of cash: its ‘cohesion policy’. The EU capital is known as a “compromise machine”. Most political conflicts, in particular those about money, are settled behind closed doors, by people who know they will be very soon meeting again (as they do so regularly) and are therefore willing to give in with no one having to lose face. For observers, such as journalists and voters, it is therefore often difficult to find out who is actually fighting for what, who gave in where, and why a certain deal was struck. Not this week. On Monday evening after 7 pm, at an event organised by economic think-tank ZEW, a Portuguese Socialist and Germany’s most famous Fiscal Hawk clashed publicly in what could be one of the most decisive conflicts for the EU’s 2028–2034 finances. What was this fight – involving German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP/Renew) and outgoing Cohesion Commissioner Elisa Ferreira (aligned with the Portuguese Socialist Party/S&D) – about? In short: Power and Money. The European Commission, to be precise, its secretariat general as well as its unit for spending, DG BUDG, is considering a far-reaching reform to the EU’s cohesion policy, which includes structural funds for regions, as well as social programmes. Cohesion policy currently makes up a third of the EU’s overall spending, amounting to almost €400 billion in the current seven-year period that ends in 2027. | 