The President of the European Council, António Costa, will conclude his ‘tour of European capitals’, focused on the post-2027 EU budget, in Dublin on Thursday 17 September. He will meet Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, whose country currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU and who, in that capacity, is leading the ongoing negotiations on the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
The results of the initiative by the former Portuguese head of government are, for the time being, not immediately apparent, even after his successive trips to Vienna, Rome and then Paris on Tuesday 15 September. In any case, his visit gave each of the leaders an opportunity to restate their national position to the press, as did the German Chancellor, who on 9 September once again said he was in favour of “cuts equivalent to hundreds of billions of euros” (see EUROPE 13935/17).
Also among the camp of so-called ‘frugal’ countries, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker delivered a similar message, sharply criticising the total volume of nearly €2,000 billion proposed by the European Commission in July 2025.
“If a Member State were to propose such an envelope for its national budget, I am fairly certain that the Commission would be knocking on its door the very next day to express its serious concerns”, he said alongside António Costa.
As expected, the Austrian leader also called for the retention of the “rebates” from which these northern countries benefit in order to limit their national contribution to the EU budget.
Although in favour of massive cuts, Vienna nevertheless remains attached to the CAP. “Funding for Austrian farmers cannot be reduced”, Christian Stocker warned.
Lastly, the Prime Minister, an EPP member, described as “absolutely incomprehensible” the wave of recruitment of new EU officials planned by the European Commission in the 2028-2034 budget (see EUROPE 13920/10) and called for the envelope devoted to administration to be trimmed (see EUROPE 13938/4).
No press statement had been scheduled following António Costa’s meetings with Italian leader Giorgia Meloni and then with French President Emmanuel Macron, during a dinner at the Élysée Palace.
The President of the European Council will be in Brussels on Wednesday for talks with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, before bringing the exercise to a close in Dublin the following day. (Original version in French by Clément Solal)