EU Council President António Costa said European Union leaders broadly backed reaching agreement by the end of this year on the bloc’s next long-term budget for 2028 – 2034, after talks in Dublin with Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
Costa said he had discussed with Martin Ireland’s work chairing the rotating presidency of the EU Council, and shared feedback from meetings he has held with EU leaders during his recent “Tour des Capitales”, the European Council announced on Thursday.
Leaders wanted a deal this year so the new budget can start on 1 January 2028 without disrupting EU funding for groups including farmers, businesses, researchers and students.
He said talks are moving into a “decisive phase”, with leaders focusing on a balance between the overall size and distribution of the budget, the level of national contributions by member states, and “new own resources” — EU-level revenue sources that supplement national payments.
Budget structure and new revenue
Costa said leaders had also discussed how the geopolitical environment has changed since the last EU budget negotiations in 2020, with calls for a modernised budget structure that covers areas including defence and security, competitiveness and innovation, while keeping agricultural and cohesion policies in place.
He stated that leaders agreed the EU would need additional revenue streams to fund priorities while keeping national contributions “within reasonable limits”, adding that an updated set of proposals on new own resources should be clarified at the European Council meeting in October.
Costa said he planned to continue his round of meetings with EU leaders, including talks with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands on 9 October and with Sweden’s prime minister once a new government is formed.
