Christodoulides: Next EU budget may be 10% smaller than Commission proposal

The European Union’s next multiannual financial framework, its budget for the period covering the years between 2028 and 2034, may be more than 10 per cent smaller than the initial proposal submitted by the European Commission in July last year, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday. “I think we may end up on 10 or 11 per cent, double digits,” he told news website Politico, with the commission’s initial proposal having amounted to €1.76 trillion over the course of the seven years. The Cypriot government had in June proposed a budget which amounted to €1.73 trillion, when it held the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency, with the Irish government, which succeeded it, having on Saturday proposed a budget which amounted to only €1.62tn – an eight-per-cent cut. However, some member states have reportedly demanded that “hundreds of billions of euros” be cut from the EU’s budget, while most are hoping to have the next multiannual financial framework completely devised by the end of the year. On this front, Irish European Affairs Minister Thomas Byrne had last month said that the EU aims to finalise its multiannual financial framework by the end of the year because “if we don’t conclude the negotiations this year, we won’t have time to do all the legislation that goes with the figures that we could agree”. Additionally, it is widely understood that the EU and its 27 member states plan to do this to ward off the risk of elections next year in France and Poland – and the possible election of the far right in both countries – derailing efforts to reach an agreement. Christodoulides had earlier on Thursday also drawn attention to the forthcoming elections in Spain and Sweden’s difficulties in forming a government after parliamentary elections last month as matters which “may potentially cause issues” for the goal of completing the budget within the next two and a half months. “First of all, I would like to say that we certainly recognise and support the need to strengthen new European Union policies, defence and security, competitiveness and migration, but at the same time, this must not come at the expense of the common agricultural policy or the cohesion … policy from which European citizens benefit,” he said. ‘Issues’ ahead for EU budget negotiations However, he added, “certain political developments, such as elections in Spain and the outcome in Sweden, may potentially create some issues for us”. “It is absolutely essential that we reach a political agreement by the end of the year. Otherwise, things will clearly become more difficult,” he said, before adding that should a new multiannual financial framework not be devised by the end of the year, he said, “I believe we would be sending a negative message, not only to European citizens, but to the world”. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called a snap election after the country’s parliament voted down emergency legislation aimed at stemming rising housing costs. That election will take place on November 29, with it currently appearing likely that the centre-right PP and far-right Vox party will both make gains, though Sanchez’s centre-left PSOE may still be able to form a coalition after the election. Meanwhile, in Sweden, Magdalena Andersson, the leader of the parliament’s largest party, the centre-left Social Democrats, said that the conditions to form a government were not yet ripe after two failed attempts to do so. As such, it is expected that incumbent prime minister Ulf Kristersson, who leads the centre-right Moderate Party, will be asked to attempt to form a new government of his own, though this may see the far-right Sweden Democrats enjoy a strengthened hand in coalition talks.