The European Council met in Brussels on 15 and 16 October without closing the seven-year budget. The 2028-2034 multiannual framework stayed on the table. The Commission proposed about €2 trillion. The European Parliament wants about €2.2 trillion. The Irish presidency boxed €1.62 trillion in 2025 prices, about €1.8 trillion in current terms, some 8% below the Commission. That box fell.

Germany, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Austria asked for a smaller envelope. Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson said a 60% rise in Sweden’s contribution was unacceptable. Austrian chancellor Christian Stocker spoke of a 49% rise, “simply too much”. Friedrich Merz said no member state could afford the contributions asked. Rob Jetten wanted a smaller, modernised package. Mette Frederiksen called the Irish proposal unacceptable and questioned the weight of agriculture and cohesion against defence and competitiveness.

European Council president António Costa was tasked with preparing a new version in the coming weeks. An agreement by the end of 2026 would allow legislation in 2027 and funding from January 2028 without a break. That is a calendar aim, not a voted budget.

For Romania, Bursa cites about €60 billion in the Commission proposal. A hypothetical 8% cut, applied in proportion, would mean about €4.8 billion less over seven years. Those are exposure scenarios, not losses already set. How any cut would be shared, and Romania’s allocation, remain under negotiation.

Nicușor Dan and Giorgia Meloni convened the Friends of Cohesion, asking for enough resources, protected agriculture and cohesion, fair contributions and an end to rebates. In the European Parliament, Siegfried Mureșan rejected the Irish box. Victor Negrescu announced a mobilisation of MEPs on the same priorities. Emmanuel Macron asked for a deal by year-end; Paris, according to Euronews, wants an ambitious budget, including new own resources.

Affordable housing appears in the funding dispute as an objective of national plans, not as a rent law. Bursa also sketched effects on roads, hospitals and grids. Until there is a deal, those figures stay illustrative.

Image: Zinneke, the Justus Lipsius building, Brussels, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; the Council seat, not the 15-16 October 2026 table.

Sources consulted: A hard fight over the next EU budget: frugal states want another European Council proposal - Bursa; European Council, 15-16 October 2026 - Consilium.