Macron and Merz hold keys to an EU budget deal — but may be too weak to use them

BRUSSELS ― Political pressure is leaving Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz poorly placed to break the deadlock over the EU’s next seven-year budget. As EU leaders gather for a two-day summit in Brussels from Thursday, the heads of the bloc's two largest countries hold the keys to breaking the impasse between capitals that has persisted for months, as a Germany-led group advocating a smaller budget clashes with those like France which are resisting reductions. "Delays and persisting divisions in the Council [representing EU governments] are worrying," said Siegfried Mureșan, co-leading the European Parliament's work on the MFF, the multiannual financial framework. "The EU budget can only be built through compromise ...