00:01Forget the dry press releases.
00:03The real action at this week's European Council Summit
00:06happens behind closed doors on this Thursday night.
00:08Council President Antonio Costa is catering all 27 national leaders
00:12for an exclusive, high-stakes working dinner.
00:15Sadly, he forgot to invite a reporter.
00:17But that doesn't stop us from seeing what will be said on the multi-course menu.
00:21So let's pull up a chair and look at the dishes driving the debate.
00:27First is Ukraine.
00:28Leaders will hear from President Volodymyr Zelensky
00:31before discussing a major diplomatic milestone,
00:34opening the first formal block of EU membership negotiations
00:37for both Ukraine and Moldova.
00:40Next is global economic survival.
00:42EU leaders are confronting unfair competition from China,
00:45aiming to build a unified European stance against Beijing state subsidies
00:49and to stop losing out on trade before European factories are forced to close.
00:55Finally, there will be a bitter roar over the next seven-year budget.
00:58Costa has delivered a blunt ultimatum.
01:01There will be no deal this year without new EU-wide taxes.
01:04And Brussels wants to raise billions through green duties,
01:07but also through fresh levies on big tech, crypto and online gambling.
01:12And the Cypriot presidency has pitched a compromise budget of 1.73 trillion euros.
01:17But the fiscal frugals like Germany or Sweden argue the total sum is still far too high.
01:23And there is a lot of political pressure to digest before dessert,
01:27especially as crushing energy bills from the war in Iran still hung over the table.
01:31Look, the official summit conclusions on Friday will no doubt look polished and uniform.
01:37However, the real messy fate of the European economy is being carved up across Thursday's dinner plates.
01:43And if history is any guide, expect the coffee to be strong, the knives to be out
01:48and the negotiations to stretch long after the tables are cleared.
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