Ireland, which currently chairs the European Union’s negotiations, has proposed cutting the bloc’s next seven-year budget by 159 billion compared with the European Commission’s original plan. Farm subsidies and regional funds are protected. Countries demanding deeper cuts say it does not go nearly far enough.
The European Union’s next seven-year budget would be cut by €159 billion from the European Commission’s original proposal under a plan unveiled on Saturday, October 10, Politico reported.
The proposal comes from the Irish presidency of the Council of the EU, which is steering the negotiations.
The Proposal in Numbers
- A cut of about 8 percent to the total budget for 2028 to 2034
- €122 billion less, in current prices, than the previous draft presented by Cyprus in June
- The plan on the table is worth nearly €2 trillion
Where the Cuts Fall
| Area | Reduction |
|---|---|
| Competitiveness | €75 billion |
| Foreign aid | €38 billion |
| EU administrative costs | €10 billion |
Dublin also scrapped a rainy-day fund, known as the “EU Facility cushion”, which would have let the Commission respond to unforeseen emergencies during the budget period.
What Is Protected
Farmers’ subsidies and regional payments, which together account for half of the budget and are politically sensitive, were shielded from any cuts.
That is a concession to the “Friends of Cohesion”, a group of southern and eastern member states that opposes reductions.
The Two Camps
The EU is divided between:
- a German-led group of “frugal” countries demanding cuts of several hundred billion euros
- the Friends of Cohesion, who want spending maintained
Ireland’s plan was designed to appease the first group. It appears not to have done so.
‘Financial La La Land’
“The Irish proposal is a disappointment and not even close to a landing zone,” an EU diplomat told Politico.
“By favouring policy priorities of the 20th century the proposal fails to prepare the EU for the 21st century.”
The diplomat added: “We urgently need more financial realism and less financial La La Land.”
The frugal countries have warned against disproportionate cuts to newer priorities such as competitiveness, defence and development funding.
What Happens Next
The proposal sets up difficult discussions among the EU’s 27 leaders at a summit next week.
Image: The Berlaymont building in Brussels, seat of the European Commission (file photo, 2019). Photo by EmDee via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
