{"text":[[{"start":7.12,"text":"Ireland has cut €141bn from a proposed EU budget in an effort to find consensus among deeply divided capitals on the size and priorities of the bloc’s spending."}],[{"start":18.56,"text":"The revised 2028-34 budget is 8 per cent smaller than the European Commission’s original proposal in a sop to rich countries led by Germany, which had demanded “hundreds of billions” in cuts to secure their approval."}],[{"start":32.869,"text":"The €1.62bn proposal still represents a 30 per cent increase on the bloc’s 2021-27 budget."}],[{"start":39.753,"text":"The common budget, which is agreed every seven years, is largely financed by EU countries’ contributions based on the size of their economies."}],[{"start":48.55,"text":"Member states are racing to strike an agreement by the end of the year before a elections in big countries including France, Italy and Poland next year that are set to derail future negotiations."}],[{"start":59.22,"text":"Ireland holds the rotating EU presidency, giving Dublin responsibility for leading the talks."}],[{"start":66.96,"text":"“The [budget proposal] will make savings on the initial Commission proposal, while representing an increase on the current [joint EU budget],” said Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s EU minister, who is in charge of negotiations."}],[{"start":76.88,"text":"Dublin left funding for traditional policies — agriculture and regional funding — largely uncut at €914bn, down from €946bn in the Commission’s proposal. This would be an 11 per cent increase from the previous budget period."}],[{"start":92.24,"text":"Most of the cuts come from EU foreign policy and development aid, which fell from €190bn to €157bn, a 17 per cent cut."}],[{"start":103.52,"text":"Ireland also slashed funding for innovative companies and defence by 13 per cent, from €522bn to €456bn. This is still more than double the current budget period. It cut €9bn from the costs of running the EU administration."}],[{"start":118.33,"text":"But the cuts are unlikely to be sufficient for some."}],[{"start":121.95,"text":"“The Irish proposal is a disappointment and not even close to a landing zone,” said one EU diplomat who described it as “unaffordable and financially not viable at all”."}],[{"start":131.38,"text":"“By favouring policy priorities of the 20th century the proposal fails to prepare the EU for the 21st century,” the official added. “This [proposal] is no basis for an agreement among member states. We urgently need more financial realism and less financial La-La Land.”"}],[{"start":147.84,"text":"Six countries that are net contributors to the budget, led by Germany, had demanded “hundreds of billions” in cuts, dismissing new joint borrowing and only tepidly embracing EU-level taxes as a way to finance common spending."}],[{"start":162.293,"text":"But the majority of EU countries maintain that spending — especially on the bloc’s traditional policies of agricultural subsidies and payouts to poorer regions, which make up two-thirds of the current budget — should remain at current levels. They are pushing for joint debt and higher contributions from member states to fund it."}],[{"start":180.72,"text":"Dublin’s plan increases the amount of revenue expected to come from new EU-wide taxes to €55bn per year, and keeps all five of the bloc’s new proposed taxes. These include revenues from the bloc’s cap-and-trade carbon market, tariffs on carbon-intensive imports, a tax on non-recycled electronic waste, tobacco duties and a levy on large companies."}],[{"start":201.541,"text":"EU leaders are set to discuss the proposed budget at a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday."}],[{"start":212.16,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1791631885_1857.mp3"}