Ireland proposes cutting EU budget by €159bn — Politico Europe
In Brussels, Belgium, the Irish presidency of the Council of the EU proposed cutting the European Union’s 2028–2034 budget by €159 billion compared with the European Commission’s initial proposal. The plan envisages reducing the total budget by around 8% and is set to form the basis for negotiations among the leaders of the 27 EU countries next week, Politico Europe reports.
Which expenditures are proposed for cuts
The new negotiating document, known as the negobox, provides for cuts of €122 billion in current prices compared with the previous version presented by the Cypriot presidency in June. The largest reductions are proposed for competitiveness spending, by €75 billion; external aid, by €38 billion; and EU administrative expenditure, by €10 billion.
At the same time, the Irish proposal does not provide for cuts to farmers’ subsidies and regional payments, which together account for around half of the EU budget. This approach was a concession to Southern and Eastern European countries, known as the “Friends of Cohesion,” which oppose cuts to these items.
Dublin also proposes abolishing the EU Facility cushion reserve fund, which gave the European Commission the ability to direct funds to unforeseen emergencies during the seven-year budget cycle.
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Disputes over taxes
EU countries are divided between states seeking to cut spending by hundreds of billions of euros and opponents of reducing the nearly €2 trillion budget proposal. Germany and its allies had previously criticized the Cypriot version of the negobox for cutting only €32 billion.
The Irish presidency has not substantially changed the European Commission’s proposed package of five new EU-wide taxes, which could potentially bring €66 billion to the budget. France insisted on adding levies on digital giants, online gambling and crypto companies. Among the technical changes in the plan are the gradual introduction of contributions from the ETS emissions trading system for poorer states and an increase in EU budget contributions from the carbon levy on imports.
Ambassadors of the 27 EU states are due to discuss the document on Sunday, preparing for the leaders’ meeting on Thursday. Governments are seeking to reach an agreement by the end of the year, before elections in France, Poland and Italy.
