UNHCR warns EU against cutting international aid in 2028-2034 budget

Right · 2The UN refugee agency UNHCR has warned the European Union against "short-sighted" cuts to international aid, as Germany spearheads a push to shrink the bloc's next joint budget. 1 2 Right · 2Jean-Nicolas Beuze, UNHCR's representative to the EU, made the comments in an interview with AFP on 13 October, saying foreign aid is "an easy target" because it is easier to explain to taxpayers that less money will be spent abroad. 2 1 Right · 2EU leaders are due to haggle over the 2028-2034 budget at a Brussels summit starting 15 October, aiming for a deal by Christmas. 1 2

Right · 2Ireland, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, last week suggested cutting about €140 billion from an earlier €2 trillion budget proposal, but this failed to satisfy a group of so-called "frugal" countries led by Germany, which want deeper cuts as national budgets are under strain. 1 2 Right · 2The Irish proposal would cut the part of the budget covering international aid by 17%, while largely leaving sensitive areas such as farm funding untouched, and would ringfence €25 billion for humanitarian assistance. 1 2 Right · 2EU officials point out that the amounts on the table would still be an increase on the last budget, agreed in 2020; Beuze said that increase is "compensated with the number of crises that have erupted over the last 10 years". 1 2

Right · 2Beuze warned against cutting both humanitarian aid and broader development funding: cuts to humanitarian aid would mean "parents won't be able to put food on the table, and children won't go to school", and could lead to more refugees heading to Europe, while development spending is needed to avoid "creating dependency". 1 2 Right · 2The reports say the budget question is more pressing because many member states have cut their own budgets and the United States has slashed its role, and that the EU and its 27 members are the world's biggest providers of international aid; Beuze said this brings responsibility and an opportunity to expand influence. 1 2 Right · 2Unlike in its previous budget, the EU has proposed a separate fund of about €90 billion for Ukraine; Beuze called Ukraine "critically important" but said crises in Gaza, Sudan, Afghanistan and the Sahel, which he said encircle the EU, also need attention and funding. 1 2