Days before the European Council meeting, Giorgia Meloni set out Italy’s position for negotiations on the long-term EU budget. In a speech to the Italian parliament on Thursday, the prime minister warned recipients of annual contribution rebates: if the rebate system is not abolished, Italy will demand “the same special treatment,” Meloni said verbatim.
The figures for the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) will be presented to EU leaders for the first time at next week’s summit. Meloni stressed three non-negotiable points: new priorities must not be financed by cuts to traditional policy areas such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), fisheries, or cohesion. Italy is ready to invest in competitiveness and defense, but not at the expense of these areas.
Rome moves within the informal circle of the “Friends of Cohesion,” a group of 16 states – including Poland, Spain, and Portugal – that oppose cuts to the regional budget and demand the complete abolition of rebates. Diplomats expect the new Commission proposal to include moderate, broadly distributed cuts, but not in the horizontal form desired by net contributors.
Source: de.euronews.com
