The European Parliament will reject any budget that does not give the EU the backing to finance the new Green Deal, as well as other challenges facing the bloc.
Parliament president David Sassoli (pictured) said at the start of a EU Council meeting that parliament would not accept just any agreement on the budget for 2021-2027, which will be the first since the UK left the EU.
He told the heads of state and government that parliament was prepared to reject any agreement that did not give the EU the means to address the many challenges it faces.
Sassoli said: “We must equip the union with all the means necessary to address the challenges that we face together.
“The first and most urgent is climate change. The green deal offers an ambitious plan for Europe to become the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050.
“Achieving this will require a major financial effort.
“We need resources to boost growth and development, and to support countries, businesses, and people through this transition.
“We also need to invest in research to ensure Europe is at the forefront and does not need to rely on importing new technologies to whose development it has not contributed.”