EU-Gipfeltreffen: Le Pen will Entscheidung über EU-Haushalt bremsen
Beim Treffen in Brüssel ist die französische Präsidentschaftskandidatin nicht dabei. Die EU-Budget-Verhandlungen will sie dennoch beeinflussen.
In a significant development ahead of the EU summit, French far-right politician and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has voiced her opposition to accepting an EU budget decided before the upcoming French election. Speaking to the press in Brussels on the eve of the EU leaders' meeting, Le Pen called a pre-election decision a "democratic scandal".
She urged the negotiations over the EU budget for the seven-year period from 2028 to 2034 to be concluded only after the elections in France, Italy, Poland, and Spain. The EU states are supposed to reach an agreement by the end of this year, but due to substantial differences, a breakthrough by then appears doubtful. Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz dismissed the recent proposal by the current Irish presidency of 1.826 trillion euros as unacceptable, with Germany and other countries seeking cuts of several hundred billion euros.
According to polls, Le Pen is leading in the first round of French elections. If she becomes France's president, she intends to finalize the budget negotiations herself. In the polls for the upcoming spring election, Le Pen currently leads ahead of other candidates and has a good chance of reaching the runoff.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
