EU Budget 2028–2034: negotiations between the 27 Member States face their first test
The Cypriot Presidency is proposing to reduce the total amount by 2% compared with the Commission’s proposal. It is a sort of trial balloon intended to push the negotiations forward, but the first negative reactions are already coming in, from the Netherlands to the European Parliament’s rapporteurs
from our correspondent Beda Romano
BRUSSELS – Following months of technical negotiations, the Cypriot Presidency of the European Union yesterday presented an initial draft of the EU budget for 2028–2034, introducing ‘moderate cuts’ to the proposal put forward by the European Commission in July 2025. The outline will now be discussed by member states. As expected, some governments expressed dissatisfaction yesterday. In many respects, the Cypriot proposal is a trial balloon intended to drive the negotiations forward.
Nicosia has reduced the budget by 2% compared to Brussels’ proposal. In essence, the draft presented to the member states accounts for 1.23% of the Union’s gross national income, or 1.13% if the NextGenerationEU reimbursement is excluded. Cyprus wished to clarify that the cut is not across the board, but has been adjusted item by item. “We wanted to respect the balance set out in the Commission’s proposal,” said Marilena Raouna, the Cypriot Deputy Minister for European Affairs.
A few figures are useful for understanding the Cypriot proposal. Compared to the Brussels proposal, the budget allocated to cohesion and agriculture falls in current prices from €1,062 billion to €1,057 billion (in 2021–2027 it amounted to €819.9 billion). The budget for competitiveness falls from €589.5 billion to €566.4 billion (in the previous budget it was €220.6 billion). The budget for Europe’s role in the world falls from 215.2 to 206.7 billion (it stood at 119.9 billion in 2021–2027).
It is worth noting that the budget for cohesion and agriculture has been reduced by 0.47%, whilst that for competitiveness has been cut by 3.90%. The proposal comes after member states have expressed their preferences over recent months. Some have insisted on a leaner, less costly budget. Others, however, have emphasised the need to secure funding for the cohesion and agriculture sectors, and the urgency of providing for a more generous budget.
As mentioned, the draft presented yesterday is a trial balloon. Minister Raouna said: ‘These are preliminary figures. The basis for the forthcoming negotiations.’ According to some diplomats, Cyprus’s decision to present a budget that is reduced, but not too much so, despite the challenges facing the European Union, is tactical in nature: to provoke a more or less strong reaction from member states in order to force the EU-27 into a compromise.
