France warns against deep cuts to EU development spending in next budget
Quick Look
French European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad warned against drastic cuts to the EU's development spending, citing the detrimental consequences of USAID reductions under Trump as a cautionary example, and urged for more effective instruments ahead of October budget negotiations.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
EU governments are negotiating the next seven-year budget, with France and others lobbying the Irish presidency to shape a negotiating document called a negobox expected in early October, amid internal Commission simulations showing potential 40% cuts to development aid.
France has warned against drastic cuts to the EU’s development spending in the next seven-year budget.
Speaking at the POLITICO Brussels Playbook Live event on Tuesday, French European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad pointed to the “detrimental consequences” of cuts to USAID under President Donald Trump as a cautionary tale.
“These conversations should not be held through a budgetary lens ... The question is how do we make our instruments effective?” Haddad said.
EU governments, including France, are lobbying the Irish presidency of the Council of the EU — which is steering the budget talks — to reflect their positions in a new budget negotiating document, known as a negobox, that is expected to be unveiled in early October.
Several capitals have signaled that savings to the Global Europe Fund — a €200 billion pot governing the bloc’s support to foreign countries — are preferable to cuts to domestic policies, such as agriculture, defense and regional payments.
The European Commission has internally simulated the impact of slashing its development aid budget by as much as 40% in its next long-term budget. However, the Irish presidency is expected to propose milder cuts.
According to Haddad, the real challenge is to ensure that EU policy on trade, migration and development is better organized across different institutions.
“All of this is very scattered through the institutions today. Sometimes [we are] not able to really leverage all the different instruments for our external policy,” he said.
Speaking alongside Haddad, his Polish counterpart Ignacy Niemczycki said that increases to foreign aid from the last budget have been smaller than in other areas such as defense and competitiveness.
“Even if we see some minor changes, it doesn’t have to automatically mean that it will need to get rid of whole programs, but then it really depends on where we land with the negotiations,” he said.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The Irish presidency will propose milder cuts to the EU development aid budget than the 40% simulated by the Commission.
Likely · Within weeks
EU policy on trade, migration, and development will see efforts to improve organization across institutions following the budget negotiations.
Possible · Within months
Open Questions
- What specific level of cuts will the Irish presidency propose?
- How will the final budget balance development aid against domestic priorities like agriculture and defense?
- What mechanisms will improve coordination of EU trade, migration, and development policy across institutions?
