EU budget: 'Frugals' demand deeper cuts, European Parliament threatens to say no
Net payers led by Germany say Ireland's €141bn cut is not enough, while the European Parliament says it goes too far. Europe ministers meet on Tuesday.
Graphic: TERRA WORLD NEWS (own graphic based on the sources listed)
Ahead of the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, positions are hardening in the row over the bloc's next long-term budget. The Irish Council presidency has tabled a negotiating box that cuts the Commission's proposal for 2028 to 2034 by eight per cent, or €141 billion – to €1.622 trillion in 2025 prices, or around €1.825 trillion in current prices. The deepest cuts would hit competitiveness, research and defence (down 13 per cent) and the external action instrument Global Europe (down 17 per cent), Euronews reports.
According to Agence Europe, the 'frugals' – Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Austria and Denmark – did not soften their stance at a first exchange among EU ambassadors on Sunday. Swedish minister Jessica Rosencrantz called the overall sum unreasonable. Austria is demanding further cuts of several hundred billion euros but rejects any cuts to farm support. Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen warned that at this pace there would be no agreement by the end of the year.
Resistance from the other direction comes from the European Parliament: budget rapporteur Siegfried Mureșan condemned the cuts and said Parliament would not give its consent to the proposal. On Tuesday, Europe ministers meet in the General Affairs Council. According to Agence Europe, the goal of a deal by the end of 2026 remains in the draft summit conclusions but looks harder to reach – partly because of Spain's snap parliamentary election in late November.