EU institutions forced into last-day crunch talks on budget

“More time needed” to finalise differences on 2023 budget ahead of today’s deadline

The EU institutions in charge of setting the bloc’s 2023 budget have entered a final day of negotiations on spending including R&D, after failing to come to an agreement last week.

The Council of the EU and European Parliament began talks last month on all EU spending for 2023. As well as regular spending for the coming year—including on projects such as the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme—at stake this time is €836 million of unspent R&D funding. Some MEPs want this cash spent on research in 2023, while members states are opposed.