Ireland proposes €141bn cut to the EU’s next long-term budget, but Sweden says the plan remains “nowhere near an agreement”
Ireland, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, has proposed reducing the bloc’s 2028–2034 budget by €141 billion, or about 8% from the European Commission’s proposal. Sweden’s minister for EU affairs, Jessica Rosencrantz, said the revised figures still represented an “unaffordable increase” and left the member states far from a deal.
The proposal is intended to narrow divisions before EU leaders discuss the budget in Brussels on October 15–16. Ireland is seeking an agreement by the end of 2026, before elections in several member states in 2027 make negotiations more difficult.
The draft would cut funding for Global Europe, the bloc’s external cooperation instrument, by 17%. Agriculture, regional development and fisheries would each face a 3% reduction. Germany and other fiscally conservative members have called for cuts of several hundred billion euros, while France has argued that Europe needs sufficient resources to meet rising challenges.
To raise money without increasing direct contributions from member states, the draft includes new EU revenue sources expected to bring in €55 billion a year. These include proposals for a corporate contribution and an electronic-waste levy.
The European Commission’s proposed 2028–2034 budget is nearly €2 trillion in current prices. The Council of the EU says an agreement by the end of 2026 is needed to allow the related legislation to be adopted in 2027, before the new budget period begins in January 2028.
