EU members divided over budget proposals

Europe's residents would suffer if the European Union shaves 141 billion euros ($158 billion) from its upcoming seven-year budget, the bloc's executive has warned.

The European Commission's unusual intervention followed several of the EU's 27 member nations — including Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden — demanding massive spending cuts for the period from 2028 to 2034.

But 17 others, including economic powerhouse France, have expressed concern about cutting the budget and said additional spending may be more appropriate, setting the stage for a major rift within the bloc.

The disagreement threatens to overshadow a gathering of leaders of EU member nations in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday and Friday.

Stephanie Riso, the European Commission's top budget official, told ambassadors from the EU's 27 member nations on Sunday that a proposed 8 percent budget cut would have far-reaching consequences.

One of the diplomats at the closed-door meeting told the Politico news website that Riso said the European Commission was "very concerned about cuts to flexibility" and that "we will have no ways left to help farmers and regions when crises hit because of climate change or geopolitical tensions".

The 141 billion euros of budget cuts were proposed by Ireland, which has taken over the rotating EU presidency, and include 38 billion euros of cuts to the foreign aid budget, 75 billion euros cut from competitiveness funds, and around 22 billion euros from rainy-day funds.

But Ireland's suggested trimming of the European Commission's proposed 2-trillion-euro budget is significantly less than what Germany and the other so-called frugal nations want, suggesting the bloc could be in for months of wrangling over its next long-term budget.

Thomas Byrne, Ireland's minister of state for European affairs and defense, told reporters that his country's proposal "offers increased flexibility … in response to the clear call from member states for a simplified and more flexible, modern (budget)".

"Nobody's going to get everything that they wanted in any proposal, but we think that there is something there for all of the member states," Byrne said.

Agence France-Presse said Ireland is clearly attempting to bridge deep divisions within the bloc and reach a compromise deal by the end of the year.

But Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the proposal does not go far enough. "We are still far from an agreement," he said.

The EU is apprehensive that if the disagreement over the budget extends into 2027, it could give fuel to anti-EU, far-right political parties in a year when important elections loom in countries, including France and Poland.