Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis calls for additional European measures and greater fiscal flexibility to protect households and businesses from soaring energy costs, while warning that Athens will not accept further reductions in cohesion and agricultural funding. Migration policy forms the third pillar of Greece’s intervention at the European Council in Brussels.
The European Court of Auditors warns that Brussels’ proposed €2 trillion budget could make EU spending harder to trace. Agricultural subsidies, cohesion funding and national oversight mechanisms are under scrutiny, with Greece’s fraudulent pastureland claims highlighting the risks of weaker financial controls.
Brussels faces a new political showdown as Ireland proposes an 8% reduction in the European Union’s next seven-year budget, seeking to bridge the divide between Germany and countries determined to defend agricultural and regional funding. The Common Agricultural Policy and cohesion spending receive relative protection, but neither escapes cuts. Competitiveness, defence and external action face deeper reductions, while five proposed EU revenue sources could generate €55 billion annually. The October 15–16 European Council summit is shaping up as a crucial test for Greece and the future of European financing.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis delivered a three-pronged message at the MED9 Summit in Split: European action against high energy prices, a stronger EU budget, and a permanent emergency mechanism to respond to migration surges and hybrid threats — as Athens seeks to elevate key national priorities to the European level.
Brussels enters a crucial phase in negotiations over the EU’s 2028–2034 budget: almost €2tn, a fivefold increase in defence funding, up to €100bn for Ukraine and an increasingly difficult battle over national contributions — as political uncertainty in Germany complicates the search for compromise.
With three years left in her second term, the Commission president faces defining tests over Europe’s industrial decline, Trump and Big Tech, the Green Deal, Ukraine and defense, enlargement — and the nearly €2 trillion question of how to pay for it all
The European Parliament escalates pressure on the European Commission and member states, warning it could stall negotiations on the EU’s next long-term budget unless major changes are made to its structure and control mechanisms.
