Nicușor Dan and Giorgia Meloni bring together the “Friends of Cohesion” ahead of the EU summit

Riana Gegiu

15 October 2026, 10:49

Politics

Foto: Unsplash.com

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Romanian President Nicușor Dan and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni brought together on Thursday the heads of state and government from the “Friends of Cohesion” group, ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels. The leaders will support a common position in negotiations on the future budget of the European Union.

The group is calling for sufficient resources for the EU’s common priorities and the protection of cohesion and agricultural policies, both by maintaining funding and by preserving appropriate implementation rules. Other objectives include establishing fair contributions for member states and eliminating reimbursement mechanisms known as “rebates.”

Nicușor Dan said that the states in the group would remain united throughout the negotiations and would seek to include these priorities in the final agreement on the European budget.

EU leaders are attending a two-day summit in Brussels, where they are also discussing the rise in Chinese exports, reducing energy prices, and the competitiveness of European industry. Adopting the Union’s budget requires unanimity among the member states, making negotiations generally difficult.

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Context: Romania and Italy coordinate positions on the EU budget, with a focus on cohesion and agriculture

With negotiations on the European Union’s future budget approaching, President of Romania Nicușor Dan discussed with European Council President Antonio Costa the priorities on the agenda of the October meeting. The topics addressed included economic competitiveness, energy prices and the future budget, while Dan conveyed that Romania wants an ambitious budget, while maintaining cohesion policies as a priority.

At the same time, Nicușor Dan and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for agriculture and cohesion to remain central priorities in the EU budget for the 2028-2034 period. The initiative brought together member states from the “Friends of Cohesion” group and sought to preserve the overall level of funding for cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy, while also requesting additional resources for areas considered strategic.

In parallel, Romania continued consultations on the budget negotiations, including through internal discussions on the Multiannual Financial Framework. In this context, Romania’s position and negotiating directions were addressed, given that adopting the budget requires the agreement of the member states.