Irish Minister for European Affairs and Defence, Thomas Byrne, said, on Wednesday 27 May, at an event on the priorities of the Irish Presidency of the EU Council in the second half of 2026, that there was “enough time to get a deal by the end of 2026” among the Member States on the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
There is “no reason” that would prevent such an objective from being met, Mr Byrne stressed, warning against the “political headwinds” that could blow in 2027, an election year in several EU countries.
Speaking the day after a discussion on the post-2027 MFF at the ‘General Affairs’ Council (see EUROPE 13874/1), the minister noted a tipping point between what had previously been “technical” discussions on changing the structure of the future MFF and those that are now “political”, as reflected in the positions taken by the ‘Friends of Cohesion’ countries and the “frugal or modernising” countries, of which Ireland is now part.
After European leaders comment on the forthcoming figures from the current Cyprus Presidency of the Council, on 18 and 19 June, it will fall to the Irish Presidency to prepare a second quantified negotiating box for the European summit in October.
The Irish Presidency will cooperate with European Council President, António Costa, who will conduct a tour of the capitals in September devoted to the MFF and will take charge of the file after the October summit.
The Irish leader praised the rules making the allocation of European funds conditional on respect for the rule of law, introduced in 2021 and unsuccessfully challenged at the time by Hungary and Poland. “I am convinced that these rules had an impact on the elections in Hungary”, Mr Byrne said, elections that resulted in Mr Orbán being ousted from power.
Enlargement. Asked how candidate countries for accession to the EU are to be treated, the Irish minister stressed the importance of the process being based on the individual merits of the countries concerned. “Montenegro” is, in his view, the closest to accession, with the drafting of the bilateral accession treaty having begun.
As for the various options mentioned to enable Ukraine’s rapid integration into the EU as part of a comprehensive peace agreement with Russia, Mr Byrne did not reject them outright. “This requires a discussion” at EU27 level, but, until then, “we must work with the process we have”, he considered.
He expressed the hope that the issue of formally opening accession negotiations between the EU and Ukraine, blocked by Hungary until the fall of the Orbán government, will be resolved “in the coming weeks”. In the meantime, negotiations on the situation of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine have begun between Kyiv and Péter Magyar’s new government, with an agreement hoped for by the June European summit.
Competitiveness/Simplification. In the second half of 2026, the Irish Presidency will take up the legislative files aimed at boosting economic competitiveness in the EU, including the draft Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) and the 28th regime for European companies.
Without underestimating the workload that will fall to his country’s authorities, the minister considered that the ‘roadmap’ for deepening the single market will make their task easier (see EUROPE 13856/4).
Keen to take the cross-sector work on simplifying EU regulation “as far as possible”, he considered it possible to ease administrative burden without abandoning environmental and social standards. He repeatedly referred to the rules governing “permitting”, which hamper the launch of infrastructure projects, particularly in the “housing” sector, “without protecting any additional environment rules”.
SIU. As for the Savings and Investments Union, Mr Byrne considered that the EU should do much more to mobilise available private savings for investment in the climate and digital transitions.
Ireland, however, is not particularly enthusiastic about transferring supervision of financial entities to EU level.
Defence. As regards the “incidents” affecting several countries, such as Denmark and Cyprus, the Irish leader said he was confident that the Irish Presidency would proceed in complete security.
Although not a member of NATO, Ireland will fully play its part if a country invokes Article 42.7 of the TEU concerning “mutual assistance” between Member States, he assured, insisting on a semantic difference between the EU’s mutual assistance clauses and NATO’s mutual defence clauses.
The European Council has asked the European Commission to draw up a plan of action (‘blueprint’) describing how the EU will respond if a Member State invokes Article 42.7 TEU (see EUROPE 13856/5). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)