Increased EU spending on defence and arms could come at the expense of agriculture and rural development, Sinn Féin MEP for Ireland South Kathleen Funchion has warned.
Funchion has criticised German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and five other EU member states for calling for an overhaul of the EU’s long-term budget, which she said would see cuts to existing areas of spending while increasing investment in defence.
The leaders of Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Finland signed a letter calling for a fundamental reform of the EU budget including increased funding for defence and further agriculture budget cuts.
She said it was “completely ridiculous” that member states were seeking further cuts to the EU budget while pushing for more EU funding for arms companies and the militarisation agenda.
“Successive proposals from the Commission and the previous Cypriot Council Presidency have put forward large budgets, but have cut spending on core policy areas, particularly agriculture and cohesion funding,” Funchion said.
Viability of farming
She warned that further cuts could threaten the viability of farming and disproportionately affect poorer regions and rural communities.
Funchion called on the Irish Government to protect Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and cohesion funding during the budget negotiations.
“The Irish Government must stand firm and protect agriculture and cohesion spending in the face of pressures from Germany and others.
“It is their responsibility to represent what is best for the EU as a whole in these negotiations.
“Further cuts to social spending and rural development would be intolerable, and the Irish government should make that clear in its upcoming proposal.”
SHARING OPTIONS