Costa Opens Discreet Talks on Next EU Budget as Big-Three Summit Looms

European Council President António Costa has begun confidential negotiations on the European Union's next long-term budget, according to reporting from Politico cited by Agenzia Nova. The early diplomatic soundings may include a trilateral summit bringing together Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Germany's Friedrich Merz, and French President Emmanuel Macron to test the waters before wider discussions open to all member states.

The EU budget—officially titled the Multiannual Financial Framework—locks in the bloc's spending ceilings across seven-year periods. It sets the financial boundaries for European programmes ranging from agricultural subsidies and regional development grants to joint industrial and defence projects. Because the overarching financial plan requires the unanimous agreement of all 27 national governments, a single capital can block the entire structure. Striking an early balance among the EU's three largest economies is critical: if Paris, Berlin, and Rome disagree on overall spending volumes, contributions, or debt financing, the rest of the negotiation typically remains frozen.

In the institutional division of labour, the European Council president acts as Brussels' primary mediator, tasked with herding 27 heads of state and government toward an identical finish line. The standard Brussels script for budget negotiations usually consists of months of public theatrical outrage over net contributions, followed by leaders signing off at dawn over stale coffee. Costa's decision to conduct quiet, restricted consultations is a bid to resolve fundamental disagreements out of the glare of cameras. Grouping Macron, Merz, and Meloni also reflects a shifting balance of power in the Council: the historic Franco-German steering mechanism is no longer viewed as sufficient on its own, making Rome's buy-in essential for any viable deal.

Confidential contacts are expected to continue as Costa gauges the fiscal red lines of the major capitals. Should a trilateral meeting with Meloni, Merz, and Macron go ahead, its outcomes will feed into the drafting of the Council's formal negotiating box—the structured document that gradually turns broad political pledges into hard budget line items before the European Parliament is asked to give its legal consent.