Ireland has proposed cutting the EU budget by €159 billion – Politico
Kyiv • UNN
Ireland proposes reducing the EU budget for 2028–2034 by €159 billion. Spending on competitiveness and aid will be cut the most.
Ireland has proposed cutting the EU budget for 2028–2034 by €159 billion compared with the European Commission’s initial plan. The proposal envisages cutting spending on external aid, competitiveness and the bloc’s administrative needs. Politico reports, UNN writes.
Details
The Irish presidency of the Council of the EU, which is leading the negotiations, has proposed cutting the bloc’s overall budget for the 2028–2034 period by approximately 8% to meet the demands of the Germany-led camp, which is calling for substantial cuts.
The Irish negotiating document, or negobox, provides for cuts of €122 billion in current prices compared with the previous negobox presented by the Cypriot presidency in June. This sets the stage for tense discussions among the 27 EU leaders at next week’s summit.
The bloc is divided between countries pursuing austerity and demanding cuts of several hundred billion euros from the proposed budget of nearly €2 trillion, and the opposing camp of southern and eastern states, known as the “Friends of Cohesion,” which oppose cuts.
As a concession to the “Friends of Cohesion,” Ireland shielded subsidies for farmers and regional payments from any cuts; these account for half of the overall budget and are politically sensitive issues.
Instead, most of the cuts fell on external aid, which was reduced by €38 billion; competitiveness, which was cut by €75 billion; and EU administrative costs, which were reduced by €10 billion.
Dublin also scrapped a rainy-day reserve fund, known as the “EU shock-absorption mechanism,” which allowed the European Commission to raise funds to address unforeseen emergencies during the seven-year budget cycle.
However, Ireland’s proposal is unlikely to satisfy the “frugal” countries, which had warned against disproportionate cuts to funding for new pan-European priorities such as competitiveness, defense and development.
Germany and its allies criticized the previous Cypriot presidency of the Council for cutting only €32 billion in the latest package of proposals in June.
The 27 EU ambassadors will respond to this package of proposals at a meeting on Sunday, where they will also prepare for the leaders’ discussion scheduled for Thursday.
Governments are rushing to reach a budget deal among themselves by the end of the year, before elections in France, Poland and Italy threaten to derail the negotiations.