Macron warns EU leaders they need to agree budget by end of year

BRUSSELS — French president Emmanuel Macron warned fellow EU leaders they need to get a deal on the bloc's seven-year budget by the end of the year because it'll be too politically difficult after that, four European diplomats said. His words rachet up the pressure on the EU to overcome their significant differences over the coming weeks. During a closed-door discussion on Thursday evening, Macron said he wouldn't have a political mandate to sign a deal close to the French presidential elections in April 2027, the diplomats, all briefed on the conversation, said. Macron "said that, starting from January, there will be no political room" for concluding an agreement, one of the diplomats said.