{
  "id": 18356098,
  "title": "EU targets large firms to unlock budget deal",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/eu-targets-large-firms-to-unlock-budget-deal",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-11-05T18:22:33.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Politico EU",
    "slug": "politico-eu",
    "url": "https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-targets-large-firms-to-unlock-budget-deal/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "European Council President António Costa proposed limiting a contentious business tax to only apply to large firms with annual revenues surpassing €750 million, according to EU diplomats who briefed POLITICO on the ongoing negotiations. Costa's team hopes these concessions will aid in reaching a comprehensive agreement on new EU-wide levies, or \"own resources,\" which have become a major hurdle in the current talks. The proposal was discussed in private meetings, known as \"confessionals,\" between Costa's head of cabinet Pedro Lourtie and EU governments on Thursday. Lourtie has revised an unpopular corporate tax, CORE, which levies a lump sum on companies generating revenue exceeding €100 million. The proposed changes include a 0.05% levy and applying the tax only to firms with a turnover of more than €750 million, which could ease opposition from countries led by Germany, who argued that CORE undermines competitiveness and harms medium-sized businesses. However, two diplomats expressed doubts that these concessions would be sufficient to garner support for the new levy. France is advocating for new taxes to decrease contributions to the EU budget. In a gesture to Paris, Costa's team indicated that they would maintain the total revenue projections from the Commission's tax proposal, which was anticipated to generate €65 billion annually. Additionally, Costa's team suggested increasing taxes on non-collected plastic and electronic waste, raising the share of a carbon imports' tax that goes to the EU treasury to 100% from the current 75%, and exploring levies on crypto firms and national spectrum auctions. Costa also proposed phasing in taxes on tobacco products and polluting firms, known as the Emissions Trading System, for countries heavily impacted. The negotiations, which began on Thursday and will continue until next Monday, aim to pave the way for a budget deal by the end of 2026. This would occur before elections in Poland, France, and Italy, which could potentially derail the talks. Costa is expected to present a new budget negotiating document on November 21 ahead of a special summit the following week. During the meetings, Costa's team suggested further cuts to the budget, which might affect regional funding known as cohesion policy, potentially posing a significant setback for the alliance of Southern and Eastern European countries, known as the Friends of Cohesion. The proposal to cut farmers' subsidies was deemed less likely, according to the diplomats.",
  "summary": "European Council President António Costa hopes the concessions will facilitate an agreement on the bloc's next long-term budget.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}