Luxembourg, June 12, 2026 (Lusa) - The government on Friday welcomed the “frankly better proposal” for Portugal, put forward by the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), regarding the EU’s multiannual budget, whilst acknowledging, however, that the interinstitutional negotiations are unlikely to be concluded this year.
“This proposal that has now been made public is a frankly better proposal than the initial drafts, than what was known some time ago,” said minister of finance Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, a day after the document was presented.
Speaking to Portuguese journalists at the end of a meeting of finance ministers in Luxembourg, he noted that “this is a positive proposal for Portugal, but it faces opposition from other countries”, meaning that “the negotiations have been long and will continue to be long” given the need for consensus among the 27 member states.
"These negotiations have been going on for a very long time, for over a year, and will continue for another year or almost a year and a half before they can eventually be concluded," he said.
Stressing that this is "an important step for Portugal to maintain its objectives", particularly regarding cohesion funds, the minister pointed out that “there are many aspects to analyse and iron out”, as well as “unresolved issues” regarding the common debt and loan repayments relating to the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).
“There is still a long way to go,” he concluded.
It is proposed that, under the Cypriot document, Portugal should receive an additional €1.6 billion compared to what the European Commission proposed, through an increase in the national allocation in accordance with the principles of cohesion, according to European sources consulted by Lusa.
In the proposal released last July, the European Commission proposed that Portugal receive €33.5 billion in the new budget, including for cohesion and agriculture, migration and climate, under the national and regional partnership plan within the framework of the new EU budget until 2034.
This amount now rises to around €35 billion with the proposal from the Cyprus-held EU Council presidency.
At issue is the so-called negotiating box, now published, which will serve as the basis for discussion by EU leaders at next week’s European Council meeting, and will be the starting point for interinstitutional negotiations in the coming months between member states (in the Council of the EU) and MEPs (in the European Parliament).
The proposal from the Cypriot EU presidency provides for a moderate overall reduction of around 2% compared to the budget presented by the European Commission, equivalent to €32.8 billion, bringing the total to €1.94 trillion.
Overall, with this revision, the EU budget would represent 1.23% of the EU’s Gross National Income (GNI), or 1.13% if the repayment associated with the post-pandemic recovery fund, which finances the PRR, is excluded.
In July 2025, the European Commission proposed a new long-term EU budget for 2028–2034 of €2 trillion, up from the €1.2 trillion in the current framework, which includes higher national contributions and three new taxes.
The European Parliament wants a more ambitious budget, advocating national contributions equivalent to 1.27% of the EU’s GNI, compared to the 1.15% proposed by the European Commission, excluding the costs associated with the repayment of the Recovery and Resilience Plan debt (0.11% of GNI).
In total, and even without including such charges, the long-term EU budget for 2028–2034 proposed by the European Parliament stands at around €2.014 trillion, compared to the €2 trillion proposed by the Commission including debt repayment, representing an increase of around 10%.
The co-legislators (MEPs and Member States) will work on the technical documents and negotiation processes with a view to reaching an agreement by the end of the year.
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