The tortured negotiations over the EU’s long-term budget, which turned into a Turkish bazaar, clearly show that EU leaders no longer agree on the added value of the bloc and confirm a slow decay of the project that was signalled by the UK’s departure. Following more than 27 hours of talks, the 27 EU leaders failed to reach an agreement on the multi-annual financial framework for 2021-2027. Almost from the start, last week’s summit marched to the tune of a bloc of net contributors known as the ‘Frugal Four’ (Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden). The intense talks were mostly about how to pare back European Council President Charles Michel’s already conservative proposal, until the large majority of governments advocating a more ambitious budget said ‘enough is enough’. The bitter differences among leaders have, thus far, made it impossible to schedule the date for another summit. The ‘Frugal Four’ said Michel’s draft budget amounting to 1.074% of the EU’s GDP (€1,094 billion) must lose some weight, slashing up to €80 billion allocated to farmers and Cohesion funds. Their staunch refusal to increase their contributions could be understood only if what they get in return was negligible, or the EU was merely expensive ‘accessory’ in today’s world. (...Click here to continue reading...) |