The 27 EU member states are examining a new multiannual budget proposal for the period 2028-2034, which maintains the reductions proposed by the European Commission for agricultural and cohesion policies, but at the same time reduces the allocations for the new competitiveness fund, for the security and defense fund and the external action fund, AFP and EFE agencies report on Thursday, quoted by Agerpres.
The six-monthly presidency of the EU Council, now held by Cyprus, has prepared a new version of the budget ahead of two meetings that will take place next week, namely the one on Tuesday of the ministers of European affairs and the one on Thursday and Friday of the heads of state and government.
The revised proposal reduces by approximately 0.5% more the funding for the new national plans through which the member states will absorb the funds for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Cohesion Policy, after the amounts intended for them have already been reduced in the European Commission's proposal by approximately 10%, a reduction criticized by 17 of the member states. These two policies would thus have a total allocation of around 770 billion euros.
More austere proposal than the European Commission
Instead, the Cypriot presidency proposed reducing allocations by approximately 4% for the other two main pillars of the budget, namely economic competitiveness and its external action.
For example, the financing for the European Competitiveness Fund, a new program intended to finance investments in key technologies for green and digital transitions, was reduced from 398 billion euros, in the proposal of Brussels, to 383 billion euros in the document that the 27 member states will examine these days.
Also, the allocation for the security, defense and space policy is reduced by around 5 billion euros, up to 111 billion euros, and the funding for Global Europe (Global Europe), the EU's main mechanism for external action, is reduced from 190 billion, in the proposal of the Commission, to 182.6 billion euros in the proposal of the Cypriot presidency.
“This is a compromise that takes into account all the opinions expressed within the Council. We heard strong voices asking for a more ambitious budget and, at the same time, we listened carefully to those who asked for significant budget cuts”, explained Marilena Raouna, Cypriot responsible for European affairs. Compared to the Commission's proposal, the one formulated by the Cypriot presidency represents a global reduction of approximately 2%.
A budget by the end of the year
The 27 member states are deeply divided between the so-called “frugal” ones, who advocate a more austere EU budget, given national budgetary constraints, and those who want an increase in funds for agricultural and cohesion policies, the latter suggesting new taxes or loans as ways of financing, ideas that were not taken up by the Cypriot presidency in its proposal.
The European summit that will take place in Brussels on June 18 and 19 should launch the negotiations between the 27 member states on the multiannual financial framework for the period 2028-2034.
The European Commission has proposed a total budget of around 2,000 billion euros for the period 2028-2034, a significant increase compared to the current seven-year financial framework.
The objective is for the negotiations to be concluded by the end of the year, in order to avoid a potential institutional paralysis next year due to the elections that will take place in several countries, including the presidential elections in France.
