EU budget: heads of government of six net contributors against increase

Heads of government from Germany, Austria, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark have spoken out against increasing the EU budget. Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his five counterparts are warning in the ongoing EU financial negotiations that the EU Commission's budget proposal cannot be approved.

»Almost every EU member state is making painful efforts to consolidate its public finances. “There will be no European sovereignty without sound public finances,” the six countries wrote to the EU Commission. However, they do not want cuts to the seven-year EU financial framework from 2028 compared to the existing one.

“We also have to be realistic,” wrote the six so-called net contributors to the EU. These are states that pay more into the EU budget than they receive through financial aid and subsidies. The nominal increase of around 60 percent proposed by the EU Commission is “simply not realistic, neither economically nor politically.”

The six countries also pointed out that there are already serious concerns in many EU countries about the high levels of debt in national budgets. "Increasing the number of staff in the EU institutions at a time when we are reducing staff in our own administrations is also not appropriate."