The Financial Times reports German Chancellor Merz and the leaders of the
Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Finland have warned they will refuse
to approve the EU's next seven-year budget unless it is cut by "hundreds of
billions of euros." In a joint letter they called for fundamental reform of the
multi-year framework; the dispute is over shifting funding toward defense and
industrial support versus maintaining large allocations for agriculture and
poorer regions. A diplomat signatory said there will be no agreement this year
if the budget is not cut by hundreds of billions of euros.
