Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), proposed a cut of 140 billion euros (7 trillion 728 billion Turkish Liras) in the union's next budget proposal in order to resolve the deep disagreements between member countries and reach a consensus by the end of the year.
EU member states are experiencing intense disagreement over the size of the budget due to demands for deep cuts led by Germany, against the approximately 2 trillion euro budget bill previously presented by Brussels.
Leaders of the 27 member countries of the Union will meet in Brussels next week with the aim of discussing the budget plan covering the period 2028-2034 and reaching an agreement by Christmas.
The EU administration is afraid that the extension of the negotiations will drag the process into the 2027 election year, which is expected to be tense, with concerns that the election victories of Eurosceptic parties in France and other countries will make future compromises difficult.
The Union is deeply divided over the budget. Germany; Austria leads the group, acting together with Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden, demanding cuts of hundreds of billions of euros in the budget.
France, Europe's second largest economy and one of the countries with a net contribution to the budget, argues that the continent should have sufficient financial resources to cope with the increasing challenges faced by the 27-member union.
Ireland announced that the new draft, based on 2025 prices, envisages a cut of 141 billion euros in total, or 8 percent, compared to Brussels' first offer.
The proposed new budget is well above the previous EU budget of around 1.2 trillion euros, despite the proposed cuts.
"I hope an agreement will be reached by Christmas," Irish Minister for European Affairs Thomas Byrne said.
Byrne noted that no country can get everything it wants in any proposal, but they think there is something for all member countries in the draft.
The first reactions to the new draft prepared by Ireland did not reveal an optimistic picture regarding reconciliation.
"The overall budget volume should be seriously reduced," said Jessica Rosencrantz, Sweden's Minister for European Affairs.
Stating that the figures on the table represent an unaffordable increase, Rosencrantz stated that they are still far from reaching an agreement.
Members of the European Parliament, on the other hand, stated that the proposed cuts went too far and that the new draft "cannot be the starting point of an agreement".
The latest draft budget proposes that the harshest cuts, compared to the first proposal, be made in the area covering international aid, with a rate of 17 percent.
On the other hand, the most politically sensitive sectors such as agriculture and regional development funds were the expenditure items least affected by this process, with cuts of only 3 percent.
In the spending proposal to increase Europe's economic competitiveness, it is proposed to cut approximately 13 percent and the budget allocated to EU administration by 12 percent.
The draft text will be at the center of the negotiations that EU leaders will hold in Brussels next week, which are expected to witness fierce debates.
17 countries from Southern, Central and Eastern Europe have formed a group called "Friends of Harmony", demanding increased funding for agriculture and regional development.
Germany and five other EU members, described as "pro-austerity", harshly criticized the high budget in August, at a time when member countries were going through a "painful fiscal adjustment" process, under the leadership of Prime Minister Friedrich Merz, who was politically weakened due to the rise of the far-right AfD party.
The main objection of pro-austerity countries is that the proposed budget increases by approximately 60 percent compared to the previous one, in a period when member states are forced to tighten their belts.
