Brussels – Ireland supports the negotiated compromise – the so-called ‘nego-box’ – on the EU’s multiannual financial framework (MFF 2028–2034), drawn up during its term as President of the Council of the EU. It matters little that some Member States, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions, and the agricultural and industrial sectors do not agree with the proposed solutions. “We now have a basis for negotiation,” the Irish Minister of State for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne, said today (13 October) at a press briefing on the sidelines of the General Affairs Council meeting, “and we have done our job.”
Byrne stressed that his country is not aiming to “lay the foundations for a final agreement,” which will come at a later stage with the President of the European Council, but rather to prepare the ground. The solution proposed by the current EU Council presidency envisages further reductions to those already proposed by the Cypriot government, which held the EU Council presidency before Dublin. According to the minister, “we have brought the Member States’ positions closer together” and, while acknowledging that “various statements are circulating, the reality is that now is the time to negotiate,” he said, postponing the discussion until Thursday (15 October) to coincide with the meeting of the 27 EU heads of state for the European Council.
When it was pointed out to him that countries such as the Netherlands, but above all Germany, are not supporting the Irish compromise, Byrne replied that “in fact, the German Chancellor has taken note of the proposal and has not rejected it as a basis for an agreement.” For this reason, he believes that, unlike the “Cyprus negotiation proposal, which many Member States rejected,” the Irish proposal “will not suffer the same fate.” On the contrary, “I think we are becoming more realistic.” No one “will get everything they want, but let’s hope there is something for everyone,” he said, urging that “a final agreement be reached by the end of the year.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
