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Irish Minister of State for European Affairs Neale Richmond has defended Ireland’s proposal for the EU’s next seven-year budget, describing it as a “demonstration of what is actually realistic” amid criticism from other member states.
Ireland presently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU and presented a compromise on the size of the bloc’s next seven-year budget ahead of tomorrow’s EU summit. The proposal suggested chopping 141 billion euros off the 1.7 trillion euro draft on the table. Richmond defends the plan is "still an increase on the last budget".