The discussion between the European Affairs ministers on the subject of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), on Tuesday 26 May in Brussels, turned into a clash between two camps. The first, comprising the so-called “frugal” Member States in the North, defended a smaller long-term budget focused on “new priorities” such as defence and competitiveness, while the second, concentrated in the East, firmly rejected cuts to cohesion policy in particular. This polarisation, which...