Dublin, July 2, 2026 (Lusa) - The Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU on Thursday called on Portugal to be ambitious in negotiations on the EU budget for 2028–2034, promising a “balanced proposal” that would take into account Portugal’s concerns regarding cohesion and agriculture, as well as new priorities.
“Naturally, we accept the principle that an agreement at any cost is not truly an agreement. I understand that, but I believe we must be ambitious and trust that it is possible to achieve a good outcome in any budgetary process,” said the Irish minister of finance, Simon Harris, in Dublin.
He was speaking to the European press, including Lusa, which is visiting Ireland this week as part of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU, and was responding to the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, who two weeks ago stated that “the substance” of the decisions reached in the negotiations on the EU budget for the period 2028 to 2034 is more important than reaching an agreement before the end of this year.
“I have been a minister for over a decade and in all budget discussions nobody manages to get everything they want. That is not how budget negotiations work [because] there must always be a certain degree of give and take and compromise,” said Simon Harris.
As interinstitutional debates on the next Multiannual Financial Framework get under way, the minister acknowledged that “the challenge is significant”.
“There are, at present, some significant challenges. Firstly, there is a question of legitimacy and differing perspectives amongst member states regarding the appropriate size of the budget, and a consensus must be reached on this point; and, secondly, many member states are right when they say that the EU is already doing excellent work through various programmes and in key areas, including cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy”, as these make “a very significant difference and people want to see them safeguarded rather than cut back”, Simon Harris explained.
However, “the world has changed”, so “European leaders and citizens expect the European Union’s resilience to be strengthened in certain areas, notably defence and security, energy and the digital transitions”, he emphasised.
It is now up to Ireland “to find a way to reconcile these three different strands and turn them into a balanced proposal”, concluded Simon Harris, assuring that the country would listen to its counterparts “enthusiastically, honestly and thoroughly” with a view to “a more fully developed and negotiated proposal”.
In July 2025, the European Commission proposed an EU budget for 2028–2034 of €2 trillion, under which Portugal would receive €33.5 billion.
Meanwhile, the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the EU (in the first half of this year, prior to Ireland’s presidency) put forward a new proposal that slightly reduces the overall budget to €1.94 trillion, but increases the allocation for Portugal by around €1.6 billion, bringing it to approximately €35 billion.
For its part, the European Parliament is advocating a more ambitious budget of around €2.014 trillion.
Negotiations between the member states and the European Parliament will continue over the coming months, with a view to reaching an agreement by the end of the year.
A revised proposal from the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU is expected in October, with further work on the EU budget’s own resources (revenue).
Ireland will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU from July to December, with the focus on reaching an agreement on the next multiannual EU budget.
This is Ireland’s eighth EU presidency.
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