European Union leaders have clashed over the fate of the Common Agricultural Policy and other traditional funds doled out from the Brussels purse, in negotiations to piece together the union\u2019s new seven-year budget. <\/p>\n
Governments are split on the size of the overall budget package, and where funds should be allocated or cut. <\/p>\n
A summit bringing together EU leaders saw prime ministers and presidents restate their red lines, heading into what will be a fractious number of months to hammer out a deal. <\/p>\n
Several leaders repeated calls for the next EU budget to direct substantially more funding towards defence and efforts to \u201crearm\u201d Europe\u2019s militaries, in light of the Russian threat. <\/p>\n
Multiple diplomats and senior EU officials said discussions at the European Council summit on Thursday evening were not expected to lead to any breakthrough, but instead increase the pressure on governments to eventually shift closer towards a compromise. <\/p>\n
The negotiations will decide how much money will be set aside for CAP payments for farmers, \u201ccohesion\u201d funding to develop roads and infrastructure in poorer regions, overseas development aid, spending on defence and border control, and a jumbo fund to boost Europe\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
The next EU budget will run from 2028 until 2034, but European leaders are pushing to agree a deal on the size of the package, and how it would be funded, by the end of this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a challenging task because there is a real divergence of opinion between those who want a lower budget and those who want a higher budget, and those who want to protect traditional programmes … and those who want a modern, outward-looking Europe,\u201d Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> said. <\/p>\n The Government<\/a> was \u201cnever going to please everybody\u201d with its proposed revision to move the budget talks forward, he said. <\/p>\n