Within a few days, the Spanish EU Council Presidency has presented a new proposal to break the deadlock among the member states regarding the mid-term review of the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). In order to advance the negotiations for the multi-annual budget, Madrid has further reduced the additional expenditure requested by the EU Commission from just under €66 billion to €40.6 billion by 2027. In the last proposal, the Presidency had still estimated an additional expenditure of €51 billion. The cuts affect all areas, with the exception of aid to Ukraine, which is to remain untouched.