At a special European Council summit in Brussels, EU leaders agreed on a new aid package to help Ukraine in its war with Russia. Germany’s Christian Lindner wants the EU’s new anti-money-laundering authority to be based in Frankfurt. The European Commission has asked France to explain the blocking of lorries carrying Spanish products in the wake of farmers’ protests.
MEPs have called for further steps to prepare a court case against the European Commission over the unblocking of billions of EU funds for Hungary. In December, the Commission released funds to win Hungary’s support for Ukraine. The European Council is due to discuss the financial aid to Kyiv again at an extraordinary summit in February.
Ambassadors from the 27 EU member states have been given a partial mandate to negotiate with the European Parliament on new long-term financial aid for Ukraine. Austria’s Karoline Edtstadler reacts to the announcement of European Council President Charles Michel’s resignation. Statistics from the EU delegation in Tirana show that the EU is financially supporting Albania with pre-accession funds.
The European Commission asked the member states for an additional 66 billion Euro for the coming years, partly to finance additional aid for Ukraine, due to a lack of money in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The increase in the long-term budget is to be discussed by the European heads of government at the EU summit at the end of this week. A protracted debate is looming.
Plans to increase EU spending to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression have stalled because of reluctance at EU level to commit to more funds. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell remains optimistic, saying it is up to member states to mobilise their industries if the EU is to keep its promise to deliver a million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine by next spring.