Cyprus’ balancing act
As holder of the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, Cyprus is required to make changes to the European Commission’s proposal, which envisages €1.8 trillion in expenditure between 2028 and 2034.
Including repayments for Covid-era debt, total spending would come to nearly €2 trillion, or 1.26 percent of the combined gross national income of all EU countries.
That would be an increase from the current EU budget, which amounts to 1.1 percent of member countries’ cumulative gross national income.
In a major change, the Commission’s proposal from last July steered resources from traditional policies, such as agriculture and regional payouts, toward new goals like defense and competitiveness.
This was a setback for the 16 countries — also known as the “friends of cohesion” — which backed a budget top-up in farmers’ subsidies and regional spending in a joint statement last week.
“Cohesion Policy (regional payments), CAP (agriculture subsidies) and the CFP (fishing policy) are the only policies facing reductions in real terms, despite the overall increase in the size of the new MFF,” read the joint text.