Costa angers EU leaders as splits mar summit
Divisions over energy prices and the bloc's seven-year budget expose unhappiness over European Council president's performance.
António Costa, who once served as Portugal’s prime minister, finds himself in a challenging position as the current European Council president. Despite his reputation as a dealmaker, recent efforts have been met with criticism from EU leaders. At a summit with national leaders, tensions arose over the handling of energy price negotiations and the upcoming seven-year budget.
The summit, which dragged on for 14 hours, resulted in little progress and deep divisions. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo expressed concern about the difficulty in finding a solution to the budget issue before national elections. The disagreement between the EU's 27 members, coupled with ongoing tensions in international affairs and domestic politics, highlights the challenges Costa faces.
Despite the criticism, many still believe Costa can succeed in the long term, though his current performance has been criticized as worse than his predecessors.
Written by urgent.news from Politico EU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
