Leaders of four major political groups in the European Parliament on Monday rejected the Irish Presidency’s revised proposal for the EU’s 2028-2034 budget, saying it cannot serve as a basis for Parliament’s consent.
The leaders of the European People’s Party, the Socialists and Democrats, Renew Europe and the Greens/EFA groups issued a joint statement expressing “utmost dismay” over the revised Negotiating Box. The document was presented ahead of the European Council meeting on Oct. 15-16 and covers the Multiannual Financial Framework, the EU’s long-term budget.
The groups said Parliament adopted its mandate for the next budget in April in its Interim Report. They said that position is “not an opening bid” but the democratic stance of the only directly elected EU institution.
The leaders objected most strongly to the size of the proposed budget. They said that, compared with the current budget and accounting for inflation and economic growth, the Irish proposal would cut the real value of the EU budget by 161 billion euros, or 10%. They said the European Commission’s proposal of 1.15% of EU gross national income represents the same share of the economy as the current budget, and that starting talks below that level would shrink the budget relative to the economy at a time when Europe is being asked to do more.
The statement listed proposed cuts it said would undermine key priorities:
- The European Competitiveness Fund would fall by 13% and Horizon Europe by nearly 10%.
- Strategic infrastructure and military mobility funding would drop by 14%.
- The Union Civil Protection Mechanism would be reduced by 35%.
- Global Europe would be cut by nearly 16%.
The leaders asked how Europe can close its competitiveness gap, strengthen security, protect citizens from forest fires and climate-related disasters, and remain a credible global actor with such reductions. They urged the European Council to answer those questions before using the Negotiating Box as a basis for discussion.
The groups also said a smaller budget would not make Europe’s challenges disappear but would shift more of the financial burden to national governments. They called the Irish Presidency’s claim of a 30% increase in the EU budget misleading because it ignores inflation and economic growth. National budgets have grown by 68% over the same period, they said, while national contributions to the common budget have fallen in relative terms. They rejected what they described as an attempt to present the budget as an exercise in “budgetary discipline.”
The leaders said the way to finance common priorities while limiting pressure on national budgets is to agree on new sources of EU revenue. They noted Parliament has proposed a levy on online gambling and betting services, a contribution linked to crypto-assets, and a digital levy on major digital platforms. The digital levy alone could generate up to 25 billion euros a year, in addition to the 57.4 billion euros envisaged in the Commission’s July 2025 own resources package, they said.
The leaders urged the European Council to consider Parliament’s proposals alongside the Commission’s. They said that without agreement on new own resources, they will not be ready to support Parliament’s consent to the budget.
The statement noted that Parliament’s position was backed by an absolute majority, the same majority needed to give consent to the final budget.
“We will not support a budget that weakens the Union’s ability to deliver,” the leaders said.
