| Unlike the proverbial grass, the EU’s next long-term budget – or as insiders like to call it, the multi-annual financial framework (MFF) – is not expected to be ‘greener’, to the chagrin of many Green Deal enthusiasts. It’s the mother of all EU policy battles and it’s just started. The coming months in Brussels will be marked by extensive talks between member states and the EU executive over the seven-year budget. Although it might seem too early to talk about something that will be operational from 2028 to 2035, we must not forget that an agreement on the current budget reached at the gong of the previous financial programme led to a two-year delay in the implementation of all EU core policies such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). “Four years ago, it was a very difficult debate and a very difficult political decision. And it will be, again, a very difficult political decision in the weeks to come,” European Council President Charles Michel said last Friday (27 October) after a meeting with EU leaders that kicked off the MFF talks. Many budget allocations will be discussed at a later stage, for instance, whether the massive cohesion policy – the EU’s main investment policy to tackle regional disparities – will be redesigned in a bid to look more like the NextGenerationEU, the flagship initiative to mitigate the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, from which it has been easier to disburse funds. Or whether the other big portion of the budget devoted to the EU’s farming subsidies will be spared from cuts in view of the future accession of Ukraine. The initial talks at last week’s European Council, however, were more about the proposed top-up of roughly €100 billion to the trillion euro budget, needed partly to repay the debt issue for the €750 billion Recovery plan and partly to serve new priorities. But those who expected a boost to the EU’s sustainability ambitions included in the Green Deal among these priorities have been let down. | 