Ireland proposes €140 billion cuts to EU budget

Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, presented on Saturday a revised draft European budget for the period 2028-2034, reduced by around 140 billion euros compared to the Commission's initial proposal.

This counter-proposal would bring savings of 8%, or 141 billion euros, compared to the project presented last year by Brussels. This revised budget aims to unblock discussions at the level of the 27 on the financing of the EU, which are slipping due to the very opposing positions of the different states.

On the one hand, Berlin is demanding cuts of several hundred billion euros compared to the project drawn up last year by Brussels, with other countries in northern and central Europe, nicknamed the "frugal". On the other hand, France and its President Emmanuel Macron repeat that we need an “ambitious” budget to have “real European policies”. And seventeen countries from southern and eastern Europe, grouped in a group called "friends of cohesion", are demanding higher spending in favor of agriculture and the regions.

A proposal discussed at a leaders' summit

The savings proposed in the Irish compromise mainly concern the Global Europe development aid program, administrative expenses, and a new fund dedicated to competitiveness. On the other hand, the funds dedicated to traditional EU policies would be generally preserved, compared to what Brussels proposed, without a reduction in the amounts allocated to States for the common agricultural policy and social and territorial cohesion. This compromise developed by Ireland will be on the menu of a summit of European heads of state and government next week in Brussels.

Ireland has also proposed a total of 55 billion euros in additional "own resources" to supplement the European budget, without increasing the contributions of member states. As suggested by the Commission, these revenues directly allocated to the EU would come in particular from taxes on electronic waste and large businesses.