On Tuesday 16 December, the EU ministers responsible for European affairs will prepare for the European Council meeting on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 December, which will be called upon to decide on the arrangements for EU funding to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027, and will hold an initial discussion on the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
The Council of the European Union is continuing to work on the basis of the two financing options for Ukraine presented by the European Commission at the beginning of December: - a loan against the EU budget, to be adopted unanimously by the Member States; - a Reparations Loan exploiting all Bank of Russia assets immobilised in the EU since February 2022 (see EUROPE 13765/1), to be adopted by a qualified majority of EU countries. The aim is to provide macro-financial aid of €90 billion in 2026 and 2027 to help Ukraine rebuild its infrastructure and continue its war effort.
“As there is no unanimity for the first option, we are focusing our work on the second option”, said a diplomatic source on Monday 15 December.
According to the Commission and a number of countries, including Germany and Poland, the Reparations Loan is the solution for making Russia pay for the destruction caused in Ukraine. However, in addition to the known opposition of Hungary and Slovakia (see EUROPE 13771/7), four Member States - Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Malta - have warned against “rushing into anything at a technical level” that would lead to the implementation of this financial package. They recommend “exploring” other funding options for Ukraine, including “transitional solutions” between now and the establishment of the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
With Andrej Babiš back in power, the Czech Republic is now reluctant to provide guarantees for the package that will be agreed to continue EU funding to Ukraine.
According to a second version of the draft conclusions dated Friday 12 December, the European Council underlines the “critical” need to ensure that Ukraine remains resilient and has “the budgetary and military means” to defend itself against Russia’s military aggression, “also over the long term”.
EUCO. With regard to the Middle East, the draft conclusions emphasise the disarmament of armed groups in Gaza, including Hamas, and support the political transition process in Syria. On EU enlargement, the EU27 could stress the importance of reforming the internal workings of the Union and ask the Commission to present the results of its in-depth evaluation of European policies.
To see the draft conclusions of the European Council of Friday 12 December: https://aeur.eu/f/jzb
MFF. The ministers will hold an exchange of views on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028-2034. No decision is expected at this stage.
The discussion will focus on the first part of the Negotiating Box drawn up by the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU to structure future discussions between Member States (see EUROPE 13769/7).
This non-binding document, prepared without figures at this stage, is the first step in the negotiation process for the future MFF, ahead of the European Council in December 2025. Its purpose is to identify the main political parameters that should guide work at the technical level. On 16 July (see EUROPE 13682/1) and 3 September (see EUROPE 13700/21), the European Commission presented its proposals for a budget of almost €2,000 billion for the period 2028-2034.
The aim is to modernise the structure of the EU budget to bring it more into line with current geopolitical and geo-economic issues. The future MFF would be structured around four main headings: - cohesion and agriculture; - competitiveness; - external action; - administration.
The preparatory work carried out over the last few months has focused in particular on the place of the Common Agricultural Policy and cohesion policy, two pillars of the current budget, for which adjustments have been introduced in response to concerns expressed by several Member States.
To see the Draft Negotiating Box: https://aeur.eu/f/jx0
Enlargement. In addition, the ‘General Affairs’ Council will be asked to approve conclusions on enlargement, even if Hungary maintains its opposition to the text due to the language on Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
According to a draft obtained by Agence Europe (see other news), the EU Council will call for the continuation of a merit-based and credible enlargement process, taking into account the real progress of the candidate countries on the basis of fair and rigorous conditionality.
Albania and Montenegro are still leading the race to join the EU. With regard to Montenegro, an intergovernmental conference will be held on Tuesday, in the margins of the ‘General Affairs’ Council, to finalise negotiations on five chapters. The EU Council is also expected to approve the creation of an ‘Ad hoc Working Party on Drafting the Accession Treaty with Montenegro’.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, the Member States are optimistic that the first ‘fundamentals cluster’ will be opened soon, despite Hungary’s blockage. The same should apply to Moldova.
For the other candidate countries, the EU Council is expected to simply highlight the progress made and call for greater alignment with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), as well as the resolution of certain internal conflicts and border tensions (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia). For Turkey and Georgia, the two processes are at a standstill.
To see the draft EU Council conclusions on enlargement: https://aeur.eu/f/K05
2026 Work programme. On Tuesday, the ‘General Affairs’ Council will approve an interinstitutional declaration on the EU’s legislative priorities for 2026.
Finally, it will be informed of the ‘roadmap’ of the forthcoming Cypriot Presidency of the EU Council relating to the ‘European Semester’ budgetary process for 2026 (see EUROPE 13759/14). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion, Nithya Paquiry and Isalia Stieffatre)