The Italian Prime Minister stressed Italy “does not have a frugal concept of Europe” as he took a swipe at the so-called frugal four countries forcing EU budget negotiations to a deadlock. The “Frugal Four” of Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden believe the EU’s 2021-2027 budget, which is meant to fund ambitious climate change and digital economy policies, should amount to 1 percent. of the 27-nation trading bloc’s gross national income (GNI).
Mr Conte said: “We’re far from a prospect of compromise.
“Italy and the Italian Government doesn’t have a frugal concept of the future of Europe.
“We’ve declared it, we are ambitious. We believe in the red lines defined by the same European Commission at the beginning of this legislature.
“To deliver on those European policies we need adequate economic instruments.
“A frugal concept of Europe is not good enough for us.”
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Speaking to reporters at the European Council, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen claimed there will probably be another summit in March to reach an agreement on the future EU budget as leaders across the bloc continue to clash.
She said: “I think the group of four it’s quite clear in how we see the discussions about the budget and we have said that yesterday to all our colleagues and also Michel.
“I don’t think anyone is interested in having a discussion about bragging today.
“We are still negotiating. The position from our part of the discussions is quite clear.”
Asked whether she believes an agreement will be reached this weekend, she said: “Are you asking if we’re going to resolve the whole bucket discussions this weekend?
“No, I don’t think so. I’m willing to stay and I’m prepared to stay the whole weekend but I don’t think we’re going to reach an agreement.”
Asked whether another summit will be required next month, she replied: “Yes, probably. It’s not my decision when.”
EU Council president Charles Michel, who met with EU leaders throughout the night trying to broker a compromise, has tabled a draft budget of 1.074 percent of GNI.
The European Parliament wants an ambitious 1.3 percent, while the EU’s powerful executive arm, the European Commission, prefers 1.11 percent.
Broadly speaking, the Frugal Four with the backing of Germany are lined up against the “Friends of Cohesion”, a group of mainly central and eastern European nations who want to see the continued flow of “cohesion funds” – money earmarked to help develop poorer regions.
With the UK gone from their ranks, the leaders want to prove that Europe can still forge ahead toward brighter horizons, but Brexit has left them with a sizeable budget hole – about 75 billion euros over seven years.