Foreign & Public Diplomacy

Every seven years, the European Union falls into a wide-ranging squabble over money. The Multiannual Financial Framework, commonly known as the EU budget, pits the 27 member states, their national interests, and need for cash against one another, complete with unpleasant mudslinging over who’s a profligate financial leech, whose elites are siphoning off the money for themselves, and who is breaking international law.

The latest budget cycle, under discussion now, is little different. But Eurocrats in Brussels are quietly confident that the scale of the threats facing the bloc, from underfunded security to national budget crises, will finally loosen the purse strings but also bring a hitherto evasive sense of political maturity and potential unity. European federalists hope it will leave the EU better equipped to face the next decade.

Every seven years, the European Union falls into a wide-ranging squabble over money. The Multiannual Financial Framework, commonly known as the EU budget, pits the 27 member states, their national interests, and need for cash against one another, complete with unpleasant mudslinging over who’s a profligate financial leech, whose elites are siphoning off the money for themselves, and who is breaking international law.

The latest budget cycle, under discussion now, is little different. But Eurocrats in Brussels are quietly confident that the scale of the threats facing the bloc, from underfunded security to national budget crises, will finally loosen the purse strings but also bring a hitherto evasive sense of political maturity and potential unity. European federalists hope it will leave the EU better equipped to face the next decade.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, recently put forward an eye-watering proposal of nearly 2 trillion euros for the 2028-2034 budget cycle. It would be the........

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