Macron Says March EU Budget Summit Ahead of French Election Is Not a Good Idea

Macron's objection is less about the budget's substance than about sequencing: a Brussels deal landing weeks before a French presidential vote hands domestic rivals a ready-made target. The practical effect is to put Paris's willingness to close an EU budget agreement on a timetable set by French electoral politics, which complicates the calculus for other member states. Whether the March meeting slips, or proceeds without French comfort, is the open question.