The Heads of State or Government of the Member States will debate for the first time, on Thursday 13 December in Brussels, proposals for the next EU Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027.
The European Council is expected to have a long discussion on this sensitive issue, in order to prepare the ground for negotiations for an agreement, if possible, in autumn 2019 (see EUROPE 12157).
In his letter of invitation to EU leaders, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, wants an agreement to be reached next Autumn on the post-2020 MFF.
On Thursday evening, the Heads of State or Government will adopt conclusions on this issue, after a round table discussion and a report on the progress made under the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Discussions at the General Affairs Council on 11 December have already shown the differences between Member States on the timetable, with a majority of countries, including Spain, wanting an agreement before the end of 2019 to avoid delays in the implementation of the programmes.
Autumn 2019 in the sights. France, in particular, wishes to avoid the establishment of an artificial calendar and favours the quality of the agreement rather than the calendar.
Germany, for its part, admits that an agreement by the end of 2019 would be good news for EU citizens.
"We will confirm that it should be adopted around autumn 2019, or perhaps at the beginning of winter", says a European diplomat, for whom it is not impossible that something could happen in the autumn.
The European Commission and the European Parliament want an agreement as soon as possible.
"No one thinks we will succeed before the European elections" in May 2019, agrees a diplomatic source, who believes that it is a question of democratic legitimacy (to let the new European Parliament negotiate on the next MFF).
New and old policies. The Commission has proposed to reduce agricultural expenditure 2021-2027 by 5% and cohesion expenditure by 6%, to take account of the United Kingdom's departure from the EU and to help finance certain new policies (migration, defence, growth and employment).
In substance, there are great differences between countries. There are those (including Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland) who want to reduce the total amount proposed by the Commission (it proposes 1.114%) to 1% of gross national income (GNI).
Others oppose cuts in traditional policies (agriculture and cohesion).
Some Member States want an ambitious reform of the revenue side of the EU budget, while others, such as the Netherlands or Sweden, do not want it.
The issues to be discussed will be, summarises one source, the timetable, the total volume, own resources, but also the link between the rule of law and the budget, conditionality between solidarity and the cohesion fund, the budgetary balance between traditional and new policies.
Negotiating box. Delegations welcomed the continued work on the 'negotiating box', a 'moving' document that should help in drafting compromises on the next MFF.
However, the Austrian Presidency would have moved very quickly on some texts, such as "Horizon Europe", less on others, such as the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) and cohesion, one source regrets.
The Hungarian delegation indicated that it wanted a global agreement that would benefit everyone, rather than compromises item by item. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur, with Solenn Paulic, Camille-Cerise Gessant, Aminata Niang, Mathieu Bion and Mathieu Solal)