Government is aiming to accomplish the onerous challenge of getting the 27 EU member states to agree on the headline spending figures for the 2028-2034 EU budget over the next six months.

The tight timeframe for bringing countries’ currently widely differing views on the future of financing EU programmes like CAP is set against the risk that these programmes could face a January 2028 funding cliff edge if agreement is not brokered by the Irish Government in the months ahead.

Addressing MEPs on Tuesday Taoiseach Micheál Martin signalled Ireland’s intention to push for a strong EU budget during its presidency of the Council of the EU, which will run until December.

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The Taoiseach criticised the high demands that are placed on the budget amid an unwillingness of member states to “fund it appropriately” as one of the EU’s “greatest weaknesses.”

Ireland’s European Commissioner Michael McGrath said this week that achieving consensus in the months ahead will pose a huge challenge, but that “the consequences of not reaching political agreement by the end of the year means that you are at serious risk of the vital funding programmes not being up and running on 1 January 2028.”