The clock is ticking on the EU’s next budget

Summary

Brussels Playbook Podcast
Episode: The clock is ticking on the EU’s next budget
Date: April 22, 2026
Host: Ian Wishart & Ryan Heath (POLITICO)
Duration: ~13 minutes

Episode Overview

This fast-paced episode dives into the brewing drama around the European Union's next seven-year budget (“MFF”) as leaders prepare for a crucial summit in Cyprus. With European Council President António Costa pushing for progress, hosts Ian Wishart and Ryan Heath walk listeners through the complex negotiations, the financing ideas dividing member states, and the ticking political clock as key elections approach. The episode also covers the European Commission’s emergency energy package rollout, Hungary’s evolving alliances, AI regulation disputes, and Brussels’ favorite new political romance.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The EU’s Next Budget (“MFF”) – Tick Tock Goes the Clock

• Setting the Scene:

  • The EU faces its monumental, once-in-seven-years task of agreeing a new budget: the €1.8 trillion Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
  • Cyprus hosts a summit amid shifts in power post-Hungarian elections and with French elections looming.
  • [00:28] Ian Wishart: “It only happens every seven years, even less frequently than the World cup and only half as often as Hungary gets a new Prime Minister.”
  • António Costa aims to spur real progress at this summit. [02:34]

• What’s at Stake?

  • Allocating €1.8 trillion across policy areas for the next seven years.
  • The Commission proposes new EU-wide taxes (“own resources”), such as levies on tobacco, e-waste, and business revenues—a highly controversial move as it shifts fiscal sovereignty from national capitals to Brussels.
  • [03:17] Ryan Heath: “They propose new levies on tobacco products, on non recycled electric waste, on revenues, on business, that kind of thing. That's the thing that's the most controversial aspect ... it takes sovereignty away from national governments.”

• Political Minefields:

  • Northern “frugal” states resist budget increases, while Parliament and others push for more spending.
  • A key driver: The need to repay €25 billion/year in Covid debt from 2028 onward.
  • [04:04] Ryan Heath: “One of the reasons why they want to generate this extra revenue is because the EU has to pay, repay actually €25 billion euros a year from, I think from 2028 because of the debt that they racked up over Covid.”

• The Two-Hour Summit Dilemma:

  • Only two hours scheduled for this staggering decision.
  • [02:47] Ian Wishart: "What's €1.8 trillion divided by two hours?"

• Elections Loom:

  • Urgency is compounded by the specter of next year’s French presidential race.
  • [04:45] Ryan Heath: “…the possibility of the French presidential elections next year. This is why there's such a rush.”

• Memorable Quote:

  • [02:50] Ryan Heath: "Honestly, Stalin and Xi Jinping would be proud of that one. But what [Costa] really wants to achieve is a budget deal by the end of the year.”

2. Ukraine’s €90 Billion Loan Approval

• Likely result from this summit: Final approval of a much-debated €90bn loan package for Ukraine.
• [05:31] Ryan Heath: “It looks like that's probably going to go through now, but it's a great chance for the leaders to say, hey, we did it.”
• Host skepticism remains over what Hungary’s Viktor Orbán might receive in return for dropping objections.

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3. Energy Crisis & Commission’s Big Package

• Crisis Response Package:

  • In wake of the Iran conflict and mounting supply concerns, the European Commission presents a package to manage prices, security, and green transitions.
  • [06:16] Ian Wishart: “The European Commission today is presenting its big energy package as attempts to fend off this big crisis, the rising prices and that kind of thing.”

• Key Measures:

  • Discussion of “mandatory work from home days” – a post-pandemic twist.
    • [06:37] Ryan Heath: “I'm very amused by the idea of mandatory work from home days after the last two years of debates of various leaders insisting we all get back to the office.”
  • Lower/free public transport in some countries.
  • Tax cuts to accelerate clean energy adoption and decentralization.
  • Coordinated gas buying due to limited reserves.
    • [07:17] Ryan Heath: “…the EU wants to move forward on coordinated buying of gas because ... there aren't many gas reserves and these high prices look set to stick around.”

• Long-Term vs. Short-Term Tensions:

  • Push towards grid decarbonisation and green investment—but critics see these as inadequate for immediate consumer pain at the petrol pump.
  • [07:52] Ryan Heath: “...the criticism will be that that's not solving anything at the moment. This acute crisis of rising prices now that people see at the petrol pump.”

• Jet Fuel Concerns:

  • Rumors of only six weeks of jet fuel left before summer.
  • [08:09] Ryan Heath: “...we might all be doing some staycations this summer because there is a bit of a jet fuel crisis ... There's only six weeks of jet fuel supplies left. The Commission denies that there's a problem here, but you know, six weeks is a long time before the height of summer.”

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4. Political and Policy Updates from Around Europe

• Hungary’s New Direction:

  • New PM Péter Magyar signals interest in reviving ties with Austria, inspired by their former Austro-Hungarian Empire partnership.
  • [08:52] Ryan Heath: “There's some big palaces that still need to be filled.”

• AI Regulation Battle:

  • Germany is lobbying for looser AI law restrictions on industrial applications, facing pushback from 10 member states.
  • [09:10] Ryan Heath: “...a plan to shift products such as machinery and medical devices partly out of the scope of the EU's AI law.”

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5. Brussels’ Relationship Soap Opera & Ethics in the Corridors of Power

• The rekindled relationship between French presidential hopeful Gabriel Attal and EU Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné is the talk of Brussels, raising eyebrows and whispers about conflicts of interest.
  • [09:47] Ryan Heath: "I do think this one's a real water cooler conversation. Everyone's going to have an opinion on this one."
• Serious concerns about the potential conflict if Attal becomes president and Séjourné remains a commissioner tasked to act for Europe as a whole.
  • [10:00] Ryan Heath: “...potential conflict of interest because you could possibly have the President of France and France's Commissioner who is supposed to be not working in the French interest, but the European interest in a relationship together.”
• The hosts’ consensus: personal relationships are inevitable in high-stress, high-profile jobs.

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6. Birthday Spotlight & Personal Reflections

• Donald Tusk Turns 69:
  • Polish PM and former Council President lauded for his charisma and colorful past (including a teenage “football hooligan” phase).
  • [11:44] Ryan Heath: “...it's a interview with Tusk about how he used to be a teenage football hooligan and how he used to come home with, you know, a bloodied nose...”
• Light-hearted banter about journalists’ social lives and the pressures of politics.

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Selected Memorable Quotes

• On the summit’s time for the budget:
  • [02:50] Ryan Heath: “Honestly, Stalin and Xi Jinping would be proud of that one.”
• On tensions of funding cuts:
  • [04:37] Ryan Heath: “People remember money being taken away a lot more than they remember a slight increase in the budget.”
• On the drama of Attal & Séjourné:
  • [10:48] Ryan Heath: “I think their union is going to suffer more than the Union—more than the European Union in this situation.”

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Noteworthy Segment Timestamps

• [00:28-04:45] — EU budget (MFF), summit strategy, new EU taxes, timeline pressures
• [05:31-06:05] — Ukraine loan approval and shifting Hungarian positions
• [06:16-08:18] — Commission’s energy crisis package: key proposals
• [08:52-09:20] — Hungary-Austria rapprochement & AI regulation showdown
• [09:34-11:08] — Attal/Séjourné relationship and political implications
• [11:28-end] — Donald Tusk birthday, Macron text, and lighter side of Brussels politics

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Tone and Takeaways

The episode is punchy, informal, and full of wry humor. Ian and Ryan blend sharp political insight with playful banter, offering a digestible yet substantive peek into high-stakes EU politics—a must-listen for understanding not just what’s happening in Brussels, but how its personalities and power plays shape the continent’s future.

Transcript

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[Ian Wishart]

Good morning. It's Wednesday 22nd April, and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast. The vibe in Brussels today is Ka Ching. That's the sound of money, because, yes, it's that time again. It only happens every seven years, even less frequently than the World cup and only half as often as Hungary gets a new Prime Minister. The EU is working out its budget again. European Council President Antonio Costa wants to

[Ryan Heath]

make headway at the summit this week.

[Ian Wishart]

And also on the podcast today, with an energy crisis on the horizon. The commission is presenting its emergency energy package today, but not everyone is convinced. And the news that French presidential hope for Gabrielle Attal and European Industry Commissioner Stephane Sojourner are back together. Yes, it's the on, off, on, off relationship soap opera that has gripped political geeks in Brussels and Paris like nothing else has us asking about other romantic

[Ryan Heath]

tie ups in the corridors of power.

[Ian Wishart]

I'm Ian Wishart, POLITICO's senior EU politics editor. And with me again today is Ryan Heath, the original author of The Brussels Playbook 11. I said 10 years last week. It's actually 11 years, isn't it?

[Ryan Heath]

It is. You operate in just dog years here at Medico.

[Ian Wishart]

And you're back with us because, as

[Ryan Heath]

we said last week, you're launching Play Playbook Canberra.

I am indeed.

[Ian Wishart]

How long have we got? You still in Brussels.

[Ryan Heath]

You've left the bit off the script about the outpouring of love for me.

[Ian Wishart]

I was gonna get to that.

[Ryan Heath]

Okay, okay.

[Ian Wishart]

The outpouring of love. Ryan, what do you think about the

[Ryan Heath]

outpouring of love for your voice?

I'm drowning in it. Still? I'm still wet.

Not usual for an Australian, is it?

[Ian Wishart]

So, shall we talk about the summit in Cyprus?

[Ryan Heath]

If we must.

I don't think it's a coincidence that this happened just after the Hungarian election. I must admit.

I mean, I do think everyone needed a holiday after 16 years of Orban. But also, you know, it's the right time of the year.

[Ian Wishart]

Well, also because there are decisions now

[Ryan Heath]

that leaders could make that perhaps they couldn't have done when Orban was there. One of which is the big budget, the 1.8 trillion EU budget, the MFF as it's called.

[Ian Wishart]

Antonio Costa, the European Council President, wants

[Ryan Heath]

to make headway on it.

[Ian Wishart]

Do you want to tell us what he's trying to achieve? I know you're an MFF expert, Ryan.

[Ryan Heath]

I am. And he wants to devote two whole hours, two hours, which is enough.

[Ian Wishart]

What's 1.8 trillion divided by two hours?

[Ryan Heath]

I don't know. But like this is a seven year budget and two hour debate. Honestly, Stalin and Xi Jinping would be proud of that one. But what he really wants to achieve is a budget deal by the end of the year. If you want to do that, clearly the time is ticking, you need to do it now. But it's not just the number that's going to be controversial, it's how he wants to do do it. He wants to raise new EU wide taxes and that as we know, is a non starter for a bunch of countries. So.

[Ian Wishart]

Well, I mean it's the commission really

[Ryan Heath]

that came out with this proposal in the first place. So they're talking about the new taxes, own resources, as it's called. They propose new levies on tobacco products, on non recycled electric waste, on revenues, on business, that kind of thing. That's the thing that's the most controversial aspect of it and always has been in the eu because it takes sovereignty away from national governments, really doesn't. It's raising powers.

And of course, of course this is horse trading. So you have the northern and frugal states that will insist that the budget can't rise and it always does. And then you have folks over at the parliament and in some of the other member states who love the money. Reasonable increases.

We're not allowed to say unreasonable, Ryan, because we are an impartial podcast, but you're quite right, some people do think it's unreasonable.

That's exactly what I meant.

One of the reasons why they want to generate this extra revenue is because the EU has to pay, repay actually 25 billion euros, euros a year from, I think from 2028 because of the debt that they racked up over Covid.

Absolutely. And if you don't increase the size of the budget, you'd have to cut something. And that of course is a lot harder than scrabbling together more money because

you know, all countries have to agree finally what the budget should look like. A lot of countries don't want to lose funding, particularly in things like agriculture and stuff like that, which has traditionally been such a.

People remember money being taken away a lot more than they remember a slightly increase in the budget.

[Ian Wishart]

So we talked about Orban unblocking this

[Ryan Heath]

perhaps, and allowing at least a debate to take place. But this is bookended by the possibility of the French presidential elections next year. This is why there's such a rush. They want to have a number in place. They want the leaders to actually agree to a final decision before the French elections, possibly unraveling the whole thing.

Indeed. But it's not necessarily going to solve a lot just to get a slightly bigger budget in if Marine Le Pen or Jordan were to end up as the president of France. You know, we've got to focus on the big existential questions here. The budget's going to look pretty unimportant in that context if that happens next year.

[Ian Wishart]

Okay, so two hours probably. Chance of any type of deal within

[Ryan Heath]

two hours is particularly is quite slim.

[Ian Wishart]

But something that we might get a

[Ryan Heath]

decision on or something at least that they can trumpet at the, at the summit this week is finally approval for the 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine. It looks like that's probably going to go through now, but it's a great chance for the leaders to say, hey, we did it.

Absolutely. If Viktor Orban's dropping his opposition or isn't going to be there, Interesting. But always look at the next layer would be my advice. What is he getting protected in exchange for suddenly softening his position? You know, it might be a win on the budget. There might be some other sort of slap around the corner.

Well, to find out what. Read all about it in Politico

Foreign.

[Ian Wishart]

The European Commission today is presenting its

[Ryan Heath]

big energy package as attempts to fend off this big crisis, the rising prices and that kind of thing. Since the war broke out In Iran, the EU's obviously tried to manage this as well as it can.

[Ian Wishart]

We've got some documents that shows what

[Ryan Heath]

it might announce today. There's quite a lot here. What do you think are the things we need to pick out?

Well, I'm very amused by the idea of mandatory work from home days after the last two years of debates of various leaders insisting we all get back to the office. So I'm not saying that the EU was telling us to get back to the office, but it's a kind of hilarious full circle when you consider it in the broad context. We've got lower or free public transport might be coming in in certain places. The member states are getting nudged to do tax cuts on electricity and other clean technologies to get people to shift to those decentralized green options. So there is no Straight of Hormuz problem next time round. And then the biggest one of all is the EU wants to move forward on coordinated buying of gas because as we all know now there aren't many gas reserves and these high prices look set to stick around. So time to get collective bargaining.

There's a lot of long term issues as well that they're going to talk about today we hear including sort of commitments to speed up the decarbonisation of EU grids, mobilizing green investment, encouraging increased adoption of green appliances at home. But that seems such a long way off that I think the criticism will be that that's not solving anything at the moment. This acute crisis of rising prices now that people see at the petrol pump.

Yeah. And also if the crisis is so acute and people can't afford these higher petrol prices, well, how are they going to afford 99 Euro toasters? Like it doesn't fit together. And you know, we might all be doing some staycations this summer because there is a bit of a jet fuel crisis bundled situation. There's only six weeks of jet fuel supplies left. The Commission denies that there's a problem here, but you know, six weeks is a long time before the height of summer.

[Ian Wishart]

Have you bought your ticket back to

[Ryan Heath]

Australia yet or we're gonna be stuck with you?

No, no, I'm going through New York actually, because I thought if I go through Dubai, it's just going to be canceled.

Yeah,

[Ian Wishart]

okay. Ryan, there's some other stories that people might want to read on the Politico website today. Last week I called you a blast from the past. Well, how's this for a blast from the past? The Austro Hungrian Empire. Hungary's next leader, Peter Magyar, has said he wants to deepen ties with other countries nearby, especially Austria, building on the strong economic links and that history that they used to share together so well,

[Ryan Heath]

there's some big palaces that still need to be filled.

[Ian Wishart]

What can possibly go wrong? And also we're reporting today that a push by Germany to get the EU to weaken restrictions on using artificial intelligence in industrial manufacturing is facing growing opposition.

[Ryan Heath]

In Brussels, 10 EU countries are opposing a plan to shift products such as machinery and medical devices partly out of the scope of the EU's AI law.

[Ian Wishart]

You can read those on the Politico website or we link to them in our show notes. Ryan, yesterday we mentioned very briefly that

[Ryan Heath]

France's former Prime Minister and presidential hopeful

[Ian Wishart]

Gabriel Attal has rekindled his relationship with the EU industry commissioner Stephane Sojourner. Did you have any Illicit affairs that you remember from your days working at the European Commission.

[Ryan Heath]

Always a curveball with you, Ian.

[Ian Wishart]

I'm not saying ones that you were

[Ryan Heath]

involved in, I'm saying ones that you knew about.

I mean, I couldn't possibly comment, but I do think this one's a real water cooler conversation. Everyone's going to have an opinion on this one.

The serious point is the potential conflict of interest because you could possibly have the President of France and France's Commissioner who is supposed to be not working in the French interest, but the European interest in a relationship together.

Yeah, that is a high potential conflict of interest. But I also think we need to be grown ups as I think these two individuals would be as well. And my worry is not that they're suddenly going to just be deeply unethical with each other. You know, I was in the green room with Sejonet at a big political event that we had in Barcelona a couple of weeks back. He's a very nervous individual. Like, I don't think this man is like rushing to break ethical boundaries. I'd be more worried about the stress on the relationship. Like I think their union is going to suffer more than the union, more

than the European Union in this situation. I've always been of the view that people in very high pressured jobs are naturally drawn together. Either they're addicted to the, you know, the adrenaline rush or the power or the high profile nature of what they do. So I don't think it's any surprise that people in these positions are drawn together, is it?

No, absolutely not. Because they feel often lonely or that nobody can understand what they're going through.

It's like why you get so many journalists together in relationships and drinking problems. Speak for yourself. Right. That's what I would say.

[Ian Wishart]

You know, we have another birthday to talk about today. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, also of course previously the President of the European Council. He's 69 today.

[Ryan Heath]

He's looking trim, taut and terrific for 69. So cheers to you.

[Ian Wishart]

Whenever we talk about Donald Tusk, I,

[Ryan Heath]

I tell people a lot that they should read a. It was a really great lunch with the FT in, I think it was 2014, just after Henry Foy. Exactly. Now Brussels bureau chief of the ft. And it's a interview with Tusk about how he used to be a teenage football hooligan and how he used to come home with, you know, a bloodied nose and that kind of thing. It's a really great interview and it really talks about the personality of the man. And certainly when he was in Brussels and he used to talk to US journalists. He would be really charismatic and funny and, you know, he was a nice person to be a journalist with because he would always give you sort of good quotes and genuine opinions.

And wasn't sleeping with the Polish prime Minister.

Not that we know. And earlier this week, Tusk met Emmanuel Macron in Gdansk, where Tusk comes from, and they discuss nuclear exercises. And according to a post on X by Tusk, the French president texted him

[Ian Wishart]

in the middle of the night saying how much he loves Gdansk. I don't know if that was anything

[Ryan Heath]

to do with the fact that they were talking about nuclear Armageddon, but.

Or maybe France has some extra submarines they're now able to sell Poland. But an Australian shouldn't comment on that.

[Ian Wishart]

Whether it's that or halloumi or Cypriot sausages that sound like Ukrainian surnames. The EU Multi annual financial framework, nuclear Armageddon.

[Ryan Heath]

We've got it all covered on this podcast, so join us again tomorrow and

[Ian Wishart]

we'll speak to you again soon, I hope.

[Ryan Heath]

Ryan, it would be a pleasure.

Have a good day, everyone.

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