Merz, 'sharply cutting the EU budget, Ireland's proposal is not enough'

"We need to significantly reduce the common budget compared to the proposals."

"No EU member state can afford to pay contributions of this magnitude." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this upon his arrival at the EU summit in Brussels, predicting "very, very difficult" negotiations. "I thank the Irish Presidency of the Council for the "negotiating proposal" but "it is still very far from where we need to get to", he said. "I would hope that we could reach an agreement on the multiannual financial framework by the end of the year, even if the positions within the European Union are currently very distant."