Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne has said it will take at "at least a year" before there is agreement on the next EU budget, amid tensions between the European Parliament and the European Commission over the structure of the seven-year budget.
MEPs have already rejected a Commission proposal to combine cohesion and farm spending under a single framework which would give member state governments, as opposed to regions, greater say over how the fund is spent.
Parliamentary groups rejected the plan amid accusations that it would lead to fragmentation of the budget and a reduced role for the parliament.
The European Commission has come forward with compromise proposals.
The seven-year budget, known as the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF), is expected to be in the region of €2.5 trillion.
The negotiations are expected to stretch into Ireland’s presidency of the EU in the second half of next year.
Speaking on arrival at a meeting of EU Europe ministers, Mr Byrne said: "I know there's a lot of discussion going on in the European Parliament, but the reality is, this is a member state negotiation.
"Member states will have to come to a position that's going to take at least another year, climaxing during our presidency. Then the European Parliament has to agree to it. Member states are taking this pretty methodically, working through it, not rushing into anything."
Ireland has circulated its priorities regarding the next budget to the European Commission and member states.
They include a ring-fenced Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), with strong support for competitiveness and the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation fund.
Mr Byrne told reporters: "The Horizon program is very important to us, and making sure that the European Union can do what it needs to do into the future."
This included not expanding the system of the EU’s own revenue raising options - known as "own resources" - by taking from existing tax revenues that member states already have.
He said any new "own resources" would have to be done through totally new arrangements.
Mr Byrne said ministers will today formally agree a negotiating mandate for the European Commission to begin talks this week with the UK on a new veterinary agreement.
He described the prospect of such an agreement as "hugely positive" for the island of Ireland and for trade between Britain and Ireland.
"I think it's going to be really good news once we can get it over the line, once these negotiations are concluded. They are only starting now, but there is an objective across the board, to have …a veterinary agreement," he said.
Mercosur to be raised by Agriculture Minister
Separately, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said he would be raising the issue of Mercosur, and the concerns of the farming sector, with his EU counterparts at a separate meeting in Brussels this morning.
The Government remains opposed to the ratification of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, which is due to be adopted by both parties next month.
Minister Heydon said the legal safeguards to protect European beef farmers, published by the European Commission, were still being analysed by the government.
He said: "I continue to highlight the sensitivities for Irish farmers, and particular Irish beef farmers that the Mercosur agreement brings up and the need for a level playing field in terms of standards, from the perspective of the legal instrument and the proposals that are there, how that interacts with the overall agreement.
"[It] is a complex area, one we continue to analyze. We ask questions of the Commission in our dealings back and forth, but as set out in the Programme for Government, we continue to work with like minded countries."
In recent days, French President Emmanuel Macron, who had long opposed Mercosur, said he was "positive" about the safeguards for French farmers.
Should France support the deal, it is almost certain that under the weighted majority, or Qualified Majority Vote, the Mercosur agreement will be supported by ministers in December.
Minister Heydon said he would be meeting his French counterpart at today’s meeting of EU agriculture ministers.
He said: "She's been very clear with me that she shared the same concerns that Ireland has. I noticed President Macron's comments in Brazil, and I noticed more comments last week as well, which are slightly at variance.
"From my perspective, all I can continue to do is to articulate Ireland's concerns in this space and continue, as we have set out in our Program for Government, to work with like minded countries who also share those concerns."
