Brussels – After the failure of the Cyprus Presidency’s nego box, the urgency of reaching a deal among member states on the EU’s next long-term budget by the end of 2026 has prompted the Irish Presidency of the Council to put a new compromise on the table, proposing deeper cuts just days before discussions in the European Council.
As explained by Irish Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne, the “balanced” cuts proposed in the key document structuring budget negotiations among member states – an 8% reduction compared with the Commission’s proposal, bringing the total down to €1.73 trillion from the original €1.76 trillion (in 2025 prices) – vary across the four headings of the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
Global Europe, the third pillar dedicated to the EU’s external action, is one of the funding headings facing the deepest cuts. It would see a reduction of approximately 17.4%, receiving €156.9 billion instead of the €190 billionoriginally proposed by the Commission. Under the Cyprus Presidency’s nego box, the reduction amounted to 3.9%, bringing the envelope down to €182.5 billion.
Global Europe in the new 2028-2034 MFF nego box
All figures in the Irish Presidency’s proposal – which will form the new basis for negotiations among member states, with the aim of reaching an agreement by the end of the year – are expressed in constant 2025 prices.
The new Global Europe Instrument will be allocated an indicative financial envelope of €148.9 billion, down from €169.5 billion in the Cyprus Presidency’s compromise – and €176.8 billion in the Commission’s proposal. The Irish nego box represents a reduction of almost 15.8% compared with the original proposal.
It will support a wide range of Union policies, including assistance to all current candidate and potential candidate countries in their preparations for future EU membership, neighbourhood policy, international partnerships, development cooperation, humanitarian aid, and support to Ukraine. Particular emphasis is placed on actions that are “coherent with the global approach to migration and complementary to the internal dimension of the Union migration policy.”
Just like the Commission’s proposal, the new instrument for external action will be structured around five geographic pillars and one global pillar, each comprising both programmable and non-programmable components. The “Europe: Enlargement and Neighbourhood East” pillar is set to receive €32.6 billion, down from the proposed €36.5 billion in the Cyprus Presidency’s nego box (and the Commission’s €38.1 billion). The Irish nego box represents a reduction of almost 14.4% compared with the original proposal.
The European pillar will encompass all current candidate and potential candidate countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine – as well as the Neighbourhood East partners, Armenia and Azerbaijan. In Russia and Belarus, only independent civil society organisations and free media may also benefit from EU support, in full compliance with the EU’s restrictive measures. In addition, several other European countries are included: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the Vatican City.
For the 2028–2034 period, the Irish Presidency’s document does not alter the Commission’s proposal to provide continued assistance for Ukraine’s accession process and longer-term reconstruction, amounting to up to €88.8 billion, as originally planned. This support will be provided through the provisioning of budgetary guarantees and support other than loans, financed from a Ukraine Reserve under the so-called “headroom” of the MFF, with an annual ceiling of €13.5 billion.
The EU may also provide support to Ukraine in the form of a budgetary guarantee of up to €42.6 billion, with a minimum indicative amount of €12 billion to be allocated to the European Investment Bank (EIB), as well as an interest rate subsidy for the Ukraine Support Loan beyond these amounts.
As in the Cyprus Presidency’s nego box, additional funding for Ukraine may be prioritised from the “Europe: Enlargement and Neighbourhood East” and “Global” pillars, as well as from the “Emerging Challenges and Priorities Cushion” for support in the form of humanitarian assistance and other “duly targeted” activities, while preserving “predictability of support to other partners.”
