The conflict over the European Union’s seven-year budget is about money at face-value, but dig a little deeper, and the dispute has another motivation.
The central issue is one of power.
The question whether the EU budget should exceed 1 percent of GDP for EU states comes back like a boomerang every seven years when the EU plans its multi-annual budget.
Enlargement of the EU in 2004 has not changed the dynamic of that debate. It’s always chaotic and revolves around vested interests of member states but is still peppered with ritual calls for a larger vision of an integrated Europe.
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