EU budget talks intensify over new taxes and spending cuts

Negotiations among EU member states over the bloc's next long-term budget have exposed several contentious issues, according to recent reports.

Ireland's Taoiseach stated that introducing new taxes is essential to preserving the EU budget, while acknowledging that reaching agreement on new levies would be very complicated. The comments underline the tension surrounding the ongoing talks between member states.

Staff and salary cuts

A document from the Irish presidency indicates that a majority of countries support cutting costs, including reducing salaries and staff numbers among EU officials, as part of the next long-term budget.

Tobacco tax vote postponed

The EU has delayed a key vote on tobacco tax legislation until after Sweden's election. Sweden has been blocking the legislation due to opposition to taxing nicotine pouches.

Germany's Ukraine loan proposal

Germany has floated the idea of a new loan for Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets. According to diplomats and officials, this approach would help reduce the overall size of the EU's next long-term budget by shifting part of the Ukraine support funding outside the budget itself.

Together, these issues — new taxation, administrative cost cuts and the model for financing Ukraine — form a complex backdrop to the negotiations that will shape the structure and scale of the EU's upcoming long-term budget.