BERLIN REJECTS PROPOSED SEVEN-YEAR EU BUDGET

BERLIN, OCTOBER 10 /SRNA/ – Germany has rejected a new proposal for the European Union’s next seven-year budget, describing it as unacceptable and arguing that the proposed spending cuts are insufficient.

"The size of the new proposal is not a basis for an agreement," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a statement issued in Berlin.

He stressed that the EU budget must remain affordable for the countries that bear the largest share of its financing.

The rejection came just hours after Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, presented a new budget plan in Brussels.

The plan would reduce spending for the 2028–2034 period by approximately €159 billion compared with the European Commission’s original proposal of nearly €1.985 trillion, bringing the total to €1.826 trillion.

Both figures are expressed in current prices, including projected inflation over the seven-year period.

Germany and other major net contributors, including the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria, are demanding cuts of several hundred billion Euros compared with the European Commission’s original proposal presented last year.

These countries contribute more to the EU budget than they receive in return, reports DPA.

The proposed distribution of spending cuts also conflicts with the priorities of Merz’s centre-right government.

The cuts would particularly affect fields in which the European Commission had planned to increase spending, including competitiveness, research, defence, and foreign and development policy.

Agricultural subsidies and cohesion funding, which aims to reduce economic and social disparities between EU regions and primarily benefits poorer member states, would largely be protected.

EU leaders plan to reach an agreement by the end of the year, but a swift breakthrough appears unlikely.

The EU budget is financed primarily through contributions based on the member states’ gross national income /GNI/. As the bloc’s largest economy, Germany contributes by far the largest share.

EU leaders are scheduled to discuss the budget at next week’s summit, during the European Council meeting in Brussels on October 15 and 16.