Ireland, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, put forward a new proposal yesterday for the bloc's 2028-2034 budget. Money for cohesion and farm policy will not be cut, except for one small sub-fund, deputy prime minister Atanas Pekanov wrote on Facebook. Pekanov is in charge of EU funds in Bulgaria.

The total for the seven years falls by about another 100bn euros, to 1.6 trillion euros. The European Commission's first proposal last year was close to 2 trillion euros, so the sum has now been cut for a second time.

Pekanov says the proposal is a step in the right direction and will help the EU reach a decision and agree on its next multi-year budget faster.

Under the new proposal, the bloc's annual budget is about 230bn euros. That is just over 1% of EU GDP and a little more than Denmark's budget.

The deputy prime minister says the right decisions in the EU are made when Bulgaria is active and has a solid group of countries with similar views. He means the "Friends of Cohesion", a group of 17 countries that insist cohesion policy should not be cut further. The policy pays for infrastructure, health care and education, environmental protection, and small and medium-sized businesses.

In recent weeks Pekanov has talked with representatives of countries in the group at various forums and in various formats. Bulgaria will keep taking an active part in the group.

He says the proposal has weak points that will keep drawing criticism. The first is the shorter deadline for using the money. Under current rules, countries have three years after the procedure for final payout is set. The proposal cuts that to one year. That is a problem for infrastructure and other large projects, which are often delayed by environmental assessments and court appeals.

The second is that 25% of the money for member states would be held back for crises. It could not be used from the start of the next programme period.

The third is the continued erosion of the otherwise increased sum for science under Erasmus and Horizon Europe. Pekanov called it a big mistake, because the programmes are among the best known and most popular among EU citizens.

With more and more new tasks for the EU, it is hard for the bloc to cope with the same small budget, the deputy prime minister also says. Calls for cuts do not help the EU be a global player, support less developed regions and farming, and invest in competitiveness, technology, science and defence. Member states still do not agree on how to pay for the higher ambitions and needs.

Talks on funding will go on in the coming weeks and most likely months. Pekanov expects them to be hard. He says they must reach a workable consensus with enough money for all regions, stronger competitiveness, and a Europe able to stand on its own in the 21st century.