EU member states have clashed over the first figures for the bloc’s next seven-year budget, exposing a deep rift between governments that want to protect farm and regional spending and richer states demanding sharp cuts.
The dispute surfaced on June 16 at a meeting of European affairs ministers in Luxembourg, the first political debate on a draft negotiating box put forward by Cyprus, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The text feeds into a summit of EU leaders, the European Council, in Brussels on June 18 and 19, where the budget is set to be among the most divisive items.
