Merz rejects Irish EU budget compromise as "no basis for an agreement"
Ireland's EU presidency proposes about 1.83 trillion euros for 2028-2034, 159 billion less than the Commission. Germany's chancellor says that is not enough. EU leaders meet next week.
Archive image · Photo: European Union / Wikimedia Commons, Attribution (cropped and resized)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Saturday rejected a new proposal by Ireland's EU Council presidency for the bloc's 2028-2034 long-term budget. "The size of the new proposal is no basis for an agreement," Merz said, adding that a deal remained far off. According to dpa, the plan foresees about 1.826 trillion euros, roughly 159 billion euros less than the European Commission's original draft.
Germany and other net contributors such as the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria are demanding much deeper cuts. Berlin also objects to how the savings are distributed: competitiveness, research and defence would be cut sharply, dpa reported, while farm and cohesion funds would be largely spared. Ireland's Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne said a large majority of member states had asked that farm and cohesion funds not be cut further.
EU leaders are due to discuss the budget in Brussels on Oct. 15-16. It requires unanimous approval by all 27 member states as well as the consent of the European Parliament. According to Commission data, Germany paid about 21.8 billion euros more into the EU budget in 2025 than it received.