Irish EU Presidency Proposes 8% Budget Cut, Protects Farm Funds

The Irish presidency of the EU Council presented a revised negotiating box for the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework on 10 October, proposing a total of €1.62 trillion in 2025 prices. This represents an 8% reduction, or €141 billion, from the European Commission’s original €1.76 trillion proposal, but still a roughly 30% increase over the current seven-year budget.

The largest cuts target competitiveness programmes (€75 billion), external action under Global Europe (€37–38 billion), and administrative expenditure (€10 billion). Funding for the Common Agricultural Policy and cohesion policy is kept at the level set by the previous Cypriot presidency, with national allocations unchanged from June.

“We must act as an 'honest broker' on behalf of the council in delivering workable compromises on the MFF.”

Irish Minister for European Affairs Thomas Byrne described the package as an “honest broker” effort to bridge the gap between net contributor states led by Germany, which want deeper cuts, and the 17 “Friends of Cohesion” including Romania, Spain, Italy and Poland, which defend farm and regional funding. The proposal also introduces new own resources such as customs revenues and ETS certificate sales worth €55 billion.

The European Parliament’s chief negotiator Siegfried Mureşan rejected the plan on the same day, arguing that cuts to defence, competitiveness and cohesion contradict the EU’s stated priorities. He also criticised the omission of Parliament’s own-resources proposals that would reduce pressure on national budgets. Leaders will debate the Irish text at the European Council on 15–16 October, where unanimity is required for final adoption.