Cyprus president urges shortening EU budget cycle to three or four years
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides told POLITICO the EU should consider a three- or four-year budget instead of a seven-year one. He also said agreeing the multi-year budget by the end of the year looks increasingly unlikely.
The European Union should consider approving a budget for three or four years rather than planning its finances seven years ahead, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides told POLITICO. He spoke in Brussels on the sidelines of Thursday's summit of EU leaders. The issue matters because the EU's roughly €2 trillion multi-year budget must be agreed by all 27 member countries, and negotiations are deadlocked between entrenched camps.
Why a shorter period
Christodoulides noted that in 2026 the bloc is discussing a budget reaching to 2034. "You don't know what's going to be the situation in 2030, 2031," he said, pointing to Covid and the war in Ukraine as examples. In his view, it is not possible to set all priorities today. A shorter budget might be easier for some member states to accept, and he suggested opening a political discussion on it.
An EU official close to the negotiations described the idea as weird. EU law allows a budget of at least five years, though every budget since 1993 has run for seven.
Negotiating camps and timeline
Two groups dominate the talks. The so-called frugals, including Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and others, want a smaller budget. The friends of cohesion, a loose grouping of 17 countries, oppose major cuts to agriculture and regional funds.
A deal by the end of the year is increasingly unlikely. Spain holds an election in November, and polls indicate Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will lose to the center-right and far-right, which could push a consensus into 2027. Christodoulides said everyone had previously understood that a political agreement should be reached by year-end, but the situation in Spain has changed that.
He also expects the budget to be cut by about a tenth compared with the European Commission's proposal. Last week the Irish government proposed an 8% cut. Christodoulides said the outcome may be 10% or 11%, which he described as double digits.
