EPP vice-chair urges new EU revenue sources as budget cuts are proposed

European People’s Party vice-chair Siegfried Mureșan called on 21 October for the European Union to raise more of its own revenue as Ireland proposed cuts to the bloc’s next seven-year budget, according to RTÉ. The Romanian MEP said new funding would help protect spending on priorities including security, research and farming.

Mureșan told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that his group in the European Parliament had three ideas: a revenue source based on profits from cryptocurrency transactions, another based on online gaming and gambling, and, eventually, a digital levy. He argued that EU revenue of its own would make funding more transparent, predictable and automatic without increasing member states’ contributions.

How Ireland’s budget proposal would change spending

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas criticised the Irish proposal, saying it would have major consequences for the bloc’s resilience, security, stability, prosperity, competitiveness and migration. Mureșan said the proposed cuts would leave both established programmes and newer priorities underfunded. He described Parliament’s preferred approach as a moderate 10% increase to accommodate security, defence and competitiveness spending without affecting farmers.

The 2028–2034 EU budget and the deadline for agreement

The European Commission presented its proposal for the 2028–2034 budget in July 2025. It described the package as almost €2 trillion, equivalent to 1.26% of average EU gross national income over the period. RTÉ described the Commission’s initial proposal as €1.72 trillion; the different figures are not reconciled in the published accounts.

Mureșan said leaders should reach an agreement by December 2026. He warned that if a deal slips until December 2027, preparations for the budget’s planned 1 January 2028 start could be delayed. His proposed levies remain ideas for negotiations, while the size and distribution of the next budget have yet to be agreed.