Nikos Christodoulides, the President of Cyprus, proposed on the sidelines of the European Union leaders' summit in Brussels that the Union should adopt a budget for three or four years instead of planning for seven years.
Need for Budget Review
Christodoulides stated: "We are discussing the budget for 2034 while we are currently in 2026." He expressed that a three or four-year budget might be "easier" for some member states and urged officials to initiate political discussions on this matter.
Challenges Ahead
He emphasized: "You do not know what the situation will be like in 2030 and 2031." He referred to unpredictable events such as the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine, stating: "Not all priorities can be announced today."
The seven-year budget of the European Union, valued at nearly two trillion euros, must be approved by 27 member countries, and there are two groups with differing positions: a group referred to as the "frugal" which includes Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, advocating for budget cuts, and another group called the "friends of solidarity" consisting of 17 countries that do not want major cuts in agricultural and regional budgets.
Prospects for Budget Approval
An official involved in budget negotiations said that the idea of a shorter budget period is strange. According to European Union rules, the minimum budget duration is five years, although all budgets have been seven years since 1993.
The likelihood of budget approval by the end of the year has significantly decreased, especially with elections in Spain in November, where Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected to face challenges, potentially delaying the agreement until 2027.
Christodoulides also expects the budget to be about 10 percent lower than the proposal made by the European Commission. Last week, the Irish government proposed an 8 percent reduction.
He said: "I think we will reach 10 or 11 percent. This figure will be double digits."
