اروپا امروز: جدال بر سر بودجه اتحادیه اروپا محور کنفرانس امروز

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اروپا امروز: جدال بر سر بودجه اتحادیه اروپا محور کنفرانس امروز  نبرد بر سر بودجه بلندمدت بعدی اتحادیه اروپا امروز در کنفرانس سالانه بودجه نمایان می‌شود؛ اختلاف بر سر اولویتهای هزینه، آغاز ریاست ایرلند بر شورای اتحادیه و گفتگو با رئیس کمک‌رسانی اتحادیه در ونزوئلا.  لب بیشتر : http://parsi.euronews.com/2026/07/02/europe-today-clash-over-eu-cash-set-to-dominate-todays-budget-conference  مشترک شوید: یورونیوز به یازده زبان دیگر در دسترس شماست

Transcript

00:14Good morning, it is Thursday the 2nd of July. I'm Maeve McMahon and this is Europe Today,

00:20your daily update of European news and analysis, live here on Euronews.

00:25Coming up, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had to cut short his visit to Dublin,

00:31marking Ireland's six-month presidency of the Council of the EU due to a large-scale attack on Kyiv last

00:36night that killed 10 and injured over 56.

00:39To mark the occasion today in Ireland, all EU commissioners will be travelling to the south to Cork,

00:45including President Ursula von der Leyen. We'll have an update from our political reporter.

00:49Meanwhile in Brussels, the EU's €2 trillion long-term kitty is up for a debate today at Brussels' much-anticipated

00:56budget conference.

00:58After NET contributed Germany through a spanner in the works this week by calling the current proposal impossible,

01:04we'll hear the views from Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister, whose country has just adopted the euro.

01:10And it's official, Canada will take part in next year's Eurovision Song Contest for the very first time in 2027.

01:18It's the first new country to join since Australia in 2015.

01:23But first, EU finance affixionados will debate the bloc's long-term budget in Brussels this Thursday

01:29at the annual EU Budget Conference Bonanza.

01:31But the fight for cash has just started, with member states split in two camps

01:37over whether to meet the Commission's €2 trillion pitch or to raise it back.

01:42For more, I'm joined here on set by our correspondent, Angela Scugins.

01:45Good morning. Many are probably just thinking, just another conference in Brussels.

01:49Why does today's meeting actually matter?

01:51Good morning, Maeve. So it certainly matters in the wider context of the fight just getting started

01:56when it comes to this €2 trillion pitch from the European Commission for that seven-year budget.

02:01Now, the EU executive proposed this in June last year.

02:05They want to prioritise competitiveness and defence while cutting back, certainly,

02:09on agricultural and regional programs.

02:12Now, the Commission wants this to be signed, sealed and delivered by December this year,

02:18as there are some really consequential elections scheduled for next year.

02:21We're talking about Poland as well as France.

02:24But the heat is on.

02:26It's now up to the heads of state to try and find a compromise

02:29before it's ratified in the European Parliament.

02:31But as you can see, it's already getting heated.

02:33How will this fight unfold, Angela?

02:35Yeah, so we're already seeing debate ratchet up between two predominant camps.

02:39The first is the Friends of Cohesion.

02:42They want a lot of spending in agricultural programs as well as those regional programs.

02:47They also don't want their capitals inundated with angry farmers or government buildings

02:52pelted by potatoes, as we've seen over the last few years.

02:55On the other side of this, we've got the Frugals.

02:58Now, these are the countries in Europe's north.

03:00They pitch a lot more to the budget than what they receive.

03:04Think the Netherlands as well as Germany.

03:06And as you rightly pointed out at the top of the program,

03:09German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz is very against what the Commission has proposed.

03:13He wants at least €400 raised from this.

03:17He's claimed that it is unaffordable.

03:19Now, the president of the Bundesrat, that's the German Senate, was in Brussels this week

03:24to discuss the long-term budget in the European Parliament.

03:27I spoke with him.

03:28His name is Andreas Bovenschulzer.

03:31And I started by asking him whether a compromise can be found between what Brussels wants and

03:37what Berlin needs.

03:38I think in the end, you always reach a compromise after long negotiations.

03:43What I say from the perspective of the German lender, we need a budget of the European Union

03:50that has a size with that the European Union can work.

03:56So we need enough money to fulfill all the tasks of the European Union, especially in difficult

04:03times as we have them today.

04:05We need a European Union that is up to the tasks it has to fulfill.

04:10So I think it should be able to reach a compromise.

04:14On the other hand, I can understand the federal government.

04:17It will really have a difficult time to balance the own budget.

04:22So there's no real surplus money at the moment.

04:26So it will be difficult negotiations.

04:29But in the end, as always, there will be a compromise.

04:32And just on the timeline, Mertz wants this done, the deal to be struck this year.

04:37Is that realistic?

04:38Well, I hope so.

04:41But I'm not really sure because there are only a couple of months left in this year.

04:47And I'm not really sure whether that is really a realistic timeline.

04:51But I think what the chancellor wants to say is we have to hurry up.

04:55And I think that's a good plan.

04:58But if we don't manage to be in time, we should give ourselves a bit more time.

05:05It's better than to have no budget at all.

05:11Andreas Bovenschulte there speaking to our Angela Skudgens.

05:14And listening to that statement with me here in the studio is the deputy prime minister of Bulgaria,

05:19Tanez Bekhanov, who's in Brussels today for those very budget talks.

05:23Welcome to Brussels and welcome to Europe today.

05:26First question about that long-term budget.

05:28Is a compromise feasible?

05:30Good morning and thank you for the invitation.

05:32We are at a crucial point for Europe.

05:34We have to decide the budget that will also decide our future.

05:38And we have to address the issues at hand.

05:41We are in a very tense geopolitical situation, changing circumstances, changing technologies.

05:46So Europe has to do more, has to do better on competitiveness.

05:50But it also has to retain its traditional policies.

05:53Cohesion policy for us is a traditional, important and very beneficial EU policy.

05:59And for Bulgaria, as well as the member states which are part of our group of countries, friends of cohesion,

06:04it is important that no further cuts are done to cohesion policy.

06:08But that's where it's going to get tricky.

06:09We've already heard the German Chancellor.

06:10He wants to cut 400 billion euros from the budget, calling the current proposal impossible.

06:16And cap and cohesion funds, they feel like something of the past.

06:19The future is all about defence.

06:20We hear these concerns by our partners, of course.

06:23But let me say clearly, cohesion policy is not a gift from some member states to others.

06:28It is an investment in a functioning single market.

06:30It makes the infrastructure that then enables firms across Europe to extend,

06:35to get new markets, to get new consumers.

06:37It also creates new opportunities for European industries.

06:41In Bulgaria, many of the vendors for very important projects for goods and services,

06:45high quality projects, have enabled also European industries to deliver these projects.

06:50So Bulgarian citizens receive the extension of the subway,

06:54one of the most popular projects, European funded projects in Bulgaria,

06:58delivered also by a lot of European companies.

07:01But Bulgaria, of course, is a small country.

07:02You receive more as well from the kitty than you contribute.

07:05So is your voice even heard in a debate like this?

07:08We believe that how we organised in the Friends of Cohesion will make it feasible,

07:14that we make our voice very clear and loud in this discussion.

07:18It is an important discussion because it will enable either Europe to thrive

07:22or it will lead us to a situation where maybe we are already at,

07:26with a competitiveness lag towards some of the other member states.

07:29And the two goals, competitiveness and cohesion, they don't go against each other.

07:34You have to have excellence in Europe.

07:36This is what we are going to talk about today, also at the budget conference.

07:39But this excellence cannot be focused in one or two places.

07:42It has to be equally distributed across Europe.

07:44And this budget battle could take months. It could go into next year.

07:48Will they find a deal by the end of this year, though,

07:50ahead of the next year with all those elections taking place?

07:53It will take months. It will be hard negotiations.

07:55There is no doubt about it. Of course, it is better to reach a solution fast.

07:59We would like also to start planning how all these funds will be used then next year.

08:03So it will be beneficial for everybody if we find a solution this year.

08:06And Bulgarians joined the Eurozone back in January, reluctantly.

08:09I remember the protests. How is the economy doing now?

08:12In the longer term, the Euro will bring benefits to Bulgaria,

08:16strengthened credit worthiness and strengthened credit ratings,

08:20more trust in our country on financial markets.

08:23In the short run, however, there have been some, I would say, pressures,

08:26pressures on the inflation side.

08:28Unfortunately, with the start of the war in Iran, this also contributed.

08:32One could say that some firms coordinated and increased their prices.

08:36This is something we are worried about.

08:38Inflation in April and May was double the Euro area average,

08:42which is very concerning and concerning for citizens.

08:45So on that, we have taken first steps once we stepped into office in May

08:49to strengthen the regulators to see if there were some malpractices

08:52on the side of some firms in some sectors,

08:55because we don't want the Euro adoption to weaken our price competitiveness.

08:59We see that, for example, in some sectors,

09:01these price increases, of course, then they can transmit lower demand.

09:05So on this, there are some concerns.

09:07The deficit has also increased.

09:09There have been some capital expenditures that have been delayed in recent years.

09:13They have to be done this year.

09:15Not so that we address this issue,

09:18we are also taking steps to further implement and finalize the recovery plan.

09:22This is my portfolio, the Bulgarian National Recovery and Resilience Plan,

09:26something that was lagging because of the political instability.

09:29We managed to unlock the fourth payment after a visit that we had with President von der Leyen

09:35and delivering on the important rule of law milestones

09:37that were expected for Bulgaria for many years.

09:40Okay, Deputy Prime Minister,

09:41thank you so much for joining us here this morning on Europe Today.

09:44Now, Ireland has officially taken over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU

09:49in a ceremony at Dublin Castle that included a special guest,

09:52Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

09:54Our political reporter, Jorge Lebradero, is in Dublin and sent us this report.

10:00Accession dominated the first day of the Irish presidency of the EU Council.

10:04Volodymyr Zelensky himself flew to Dublin to attend the opening ceremony

10:09and made the case for his country's application.

10:11We remember that last month,

10:13Ukraine and Moldova finally opened the first cluster of negotiations

10:17after a very long wait.

10:19Now, Zelensky says he wants to open the five remaining clusters as soon as possible.

10:24But there are two obstacles in his way.

10:26First, Hungary Prime Minister Peter Magyar is raising fresh concerns about Ukraine's

10:32succession and the pace of negotiations.

10:35So, as a result, things are already slowing down in Brussels.

10:38Then we have Poland.

10:39Zelensky is currently embroiled in a bitter dispute with Poland

10:43over his decision to name a military unit after the Ukrainian insurgent army.

10:48Poland says his decision is so controversial

10:50that it could lead to the blockage of Ukraine's succession.

10:54Can Zelensky handle two vitus at the same time?

10:57This was my question to him during the press conference.

10:59Take a listen at his rather conciliatory response.

11:03Even with some difficulties with Orbán government, we did everything.

11:10So, I hope that Peter Magyar will support.

11:13And I hope that also Poland's government will support.

11:17I think it's important when we all have rules,

11:22not, I mean, it's just, you know, political emotions.

11:25We are neighbours, and I'm sure, of course, we had difficulties in our history.

11:31But, you know, all the, I mean, mostly countries in Europe had difficulties in the past.

11:37But we live now.

11:39Now we have one aggressor.

11:41And now we have unanimity.

11:42And we are defending EU.

11:44And we have to think about security for our people for the future.

11:53Ukraine's President Zelensky there answering a question to our Jorge Lebrero in Dublin.

11:57But moving on with humanitarian needs in Venezuela skyrocketing since the earthquake last week,

12:02the European Union has sent 5 million euro in aid.

12:06For more on the situation on the ground,

12:07our Lauren Walker spoke to Joao Almeida de Silva

12:10from the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre.

12:13He's stationed at an operations base in La Guardia Stadium in the city of Macuto,

12:18the hardest hit area.

12:20We are progressing.

12:21And unfortunately, the time limit is,

12:24and the clock is ticking in order,

12:26as related to the retrieval and of still possible survivals.

12:32Still, there are teams working.

12:33And so there is still hope.

12:35But unfortunately, we are now entering the second stage,

12:38more of this operation.

12:39So the teams will start to demobilize

12:42probably towards the end of the week

12:44and as from tomorrow and after tomorrow.

12:47And then we will head into the second stage.

12:50So some more health and medical and in-kind assistance and humanitarian aid.

12:54What has your work there been like so far?

12:57Can you tell us a bit more about what you've been doing there?

12:59So our work is to coordinate,

13:01to facilitate and to work with local authorities

13:03in order to speed up as much as possible

13:05that these teams can go into the terrain and work.

13:09We are also to coordinate

13:11what is the incoming also assistance

13:14and all the humanitarian aid that is about to come.

13:17We had already one flight of really few

13:20that landed here on Monday,

13:21coming from Copenhagen with almost 50 tons of assistance.

13:25And this will be our work for the next days

13:29as we demobilize the teams from search and rescue

13:31and move into more than else

13:33in-kind assistance provision in Venezuela.

13:36Now, reports are coming from the ground in Venezuela

13:39with some people suggesting

13:41that a lot of the help is coming from international aid

13:44like you're providing and from citizens

13:46and that the state and the army

13:49are very much absent in these operations.

13:52Is this something,

13:53does this correspond with what you're seeing on the ground?

13:56Well, it's difficult to enter.

13:58We know all the political situation here in Venezuela,

14:01but this is what we have here.

14:03It's with the army that we have to work

14:05and the other ones in control

14:07of the airport of the port.

14:08So all our strategic points

14:10in terms of logistics to bring assistance in.

14:13The EU has pledged 5 million euros in support.

14:15However, there are preliminary reports

14:18that suggest that actually the damage that has done,

14:20it could cost up to $11 billion.

14:23Would you say that the support that is being given now,

14:26this financial aid,

14:28is a drop in the ocean

14:29when you see the damage

14:30that these earthquakes have done?

14:32I would like my comments on this

14:35for my colleagues from the humanitarian side,

14:37as we are here representing civil protection,

14:39so more on the response side.

14:42But definitely what we see

14:43is that there's going to be a huge need

14:45to support Venezuela.

14:46The figures speak for themselves

14:48in terms of deceased people,

14:49but also especially of the disappeared people

14:51or missing people still.

14:53So what we see is that there is in the loom

14:56massive health crisis

14:58that will unfold in the coming days or weeks also,

15:01because the weather is extremely hot,

15:03extremely humid.

15:04So we suspect now that health

15:06will be the critical issue

15:07for the next weeks to come.

15:12Now, moving on,

15:13according to fresh data

15:14from the Eurobarometer,

15:15Europeans are increasingly viewing

15:17the European Union

15:17as a source of stability,

15:19despite growing anxiety

15:21about the state of the world.

15:22But with inflation,

15:24unpredictable world events,

15:25and of course,

15:26the cost of living crisis,

15:27pessimism is rife.

15:29Our Jacobianis reports.

15:32A specter is again haunting Europe,

15:35but this time that specter is anxiety.

15:37According to the newly released Eurobarometer,

15:39which surveyed over 26,000 respondents this spring,

15:43inflation and the cost of living

15:44have jumped to become again the top priority,

15:47but this time for almost half of EU citizens.

15:50But hey, whether you live in Lisbon or Budapest,

15:53your reporter is quite sure you've noticed that.

15:55But the numbers also reveal other truths,

15:58so let's break them down together.

16:01The EU experiences now

16:03a quiet crisis of confidence.

16:05Nearly a third of all Europeans

16:07now expect their personal standard of living

16:09to deteriorate over the next five years.

16:11And that pessimism reveals

16:13a stark generational divide.

16:14While almost one in five of young people

16:17brace for tougher times,

16:18that economic anxiety climbs to one in three

16:21among those aged 55 and over.

16:23And Western European heavyweights

16:25are leading the charts.

16:26In France, 44% of citizens expect a decline.

16:29Germany and Austria are equally gloomy,

16:32with 38% of their citizens

16:34bracing for a drop in their standard of living.

16:36But if we zoom out to Central Eastern Europe,

16:39the outlook remains remarkably resilient.

16:41In Poland and Hungary,

16:43fewer than one in ten people

16:44expect their situation to worsen.

16:46And while life gets tougher,

16:48faith in Brussels goes down as well.

16:50One third of Bulgarians,

16:52Greeks and Austrians,

16:53together with 28% of French and Italian respondents,

16:57now declare their nations

16:58have not benefited from EU membership.

17:00But here goes a surprise.

17:02Despite the economic gloom,

17:04optimism for the future of the EU

17:05stands at 59%,

17:07which is much higher than the outlook

17:09for the wider world,

17:10or even citizens' own countries.

17:12And let me leave you with something positive.

17:14Three out of four still agree

17:16that their nation has benefited from the bloc

17:18and view the EU as a vital place of stability

17:21in a troubled world.

17:23And all of that leaves the continent suspended.

17:28Uncertainty and hope.

17:30So let's hope that this uncertainty

17:32will be over soon.

17:38And now it's time for something

17:40a little bit lighter,

17:40our brief World Cup update.

17:47The US team will join its other two co-hosts

17:50in the round of 16

17:51after their win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

17:54England's and Belgium also threw.

17:56The three lines won a tight match

17:58against the Democratic Republic of Congo,

18:002-1,

18:01and Belgium's win against Senegal

18:03was even tighter

18:04after coming back from two goals down.

18:06They went into extra time

18:07and scored a last-minute penalty.

18:10And tonight, of course,

18:11we've two European duels.

18:13Spain will take on Austria

18:14and Portugal will play Croatia

18:16and Switzerland then against Algeria.

18:19Enjoy the games.

18:20But that brings this edition

18:21of Europe Today to an end.

18:23Thank you so much for tuning in,

18:24as always.

18:25Have a great day

18:26and I'll see you soon here

18:27on your own news.

18:39And you're right.

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