PRESIDENT OF THE European People’s Party (EPP) Siegfried Mureșan has said that Ireland’s European presidency has produced “little progress and no meaningful new solutions”. 

It comes as Ireland proposed €141 billion in cuts to the EU’s next long-term budget, falling short of demands from some member states. 

The EPP gathers over 83 parties from 43 countries, with Fine Gael as the Irish member affiliated. 

In a post on X, Mureșan referred to the proposed budget as “weak”. 

“We firmly reject the Irish Presidency’s negotiating box for the next #EUBudget. It cuts defence as threats multiply, reduces investment in competitiveness as Europe loses ground globally, and leaves farmers and regions underfunded.

“After three months, the Irish Presidency has delivered little progress, no meaningful new solutions and a weaker budget. It has reversed the European Commission’s efforts to fund Europe’s new priorities. Europe cannot take on greater responsibilities with fewer resources”, Mureșan wrote. 

He added that the next EU budget “must be guided by political vision, not a narrow bookkeeper’s mentality”. 

We firmly reject the Irish Presidency’s negotiating box for the next #EUBudget. It cuts defence as threats multiply, reduces investment in competitiveness as Europe loses ground globally, and leaves farmers and regions underfunded. After three months, the Irish Presidency has delivered little progress, no meaningful new solutions and a weaker budget. It has reversed the European Commission’s efforts to fund Europe’s new priorities. Europe cannot take on greater responsibilities with fewer resources.

— Siegfried Muresan 🇷🇴🇪🇺 (@SMuresan) October 10, 2026

 Carla Tavares, Socialist Party MEP, has also criticised the proposed budget on X. 

“The 12.8% cut to competitiveness and 17.4% cut to external action risk leaving Europeans exposed, precisely when global instability is on the rise”, Tavares said. 

Ireland said its new draft, based on 2025 prices, foresaw an overall cut on the earlier proposal of €141 billion, or 8% overall.

The European Commission’s initially proposed cuts of €1.7 trillion over the 2028-2034 period.

Germany has been spearheading calls for deep cuts to an earlier proposal of nearly two trillion euros by Brussels.

Austria, Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands are also calling for cuts of several hundred billion euros.

Meanwhile, France, the second-biggest European economy and a net contributor to the budget, argues the continent needs sufficient means to match the rising challenges the 27-country bloc faces.

Leaders from the 27-nation bloc will meet in Brussels next week to discuss the plan as they seek to reach an agreement on the 2028-2034 budget by Christmas.

Minister for European Affairs Thomas Byrne described the proposal as a compromise that was ”intended to bridge the many differences between Member States”.