STRASBOURG (dpa-AFX) – The European Parliament is embarking on a confrontation course with net contributor states such as Germany in the negotiations over the next long-term EU budget. The majority of MPs in Strasbourg voted in favor of a community budget that would contain another ten percent more money than proposed by the EU Commission.
The federal government and states such as the Netherlands had already rejected the commission’s draft as unacceptable. A diplomat from a net contributor country criticized: “Instead of facing the realities of financial policy, the European Parliament is resorting to a kind of wishful thinking about financial policy.” Net contributors are countries that pay more money into the EU budget than they get back from it.
As a new source of income, MPs are, among other things, in favor of a tax on digital services from companies such as Google and Amazon. The MPs also want more funds from the multi-year budget from 2028 to be committed to agriculture and to the promotion of structurally weak regions in the international community. Parliament also does not want to repay billions of euros in debt that was taken out for the Corona recovery fund primarily from the community budget, but outside of it – unlike the Commission.
Parliamentarians want more money for agriculture
The EU budget is one of the most politically sensitive issues in Brussels. It will be set for seven years; the budget for 2028 to 2034 is currently being negotiated. The European Commission is proposing around 1.76 trillion euros, adjusted for inflation (at 2025 prices), which should be used for various EU projects – such as defense procurement, agricultural policy, structural support or the Erasmus exchange program.
Parliament wants to invest almost 100 billion euros more for Europe’s farmers and in structurally weak regions and to commit money more firmly than proposed by the Commission under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen. She wants to use the funds from the so-called national plans more flexibly. The MPs also want more money to be invested in, among other things, Europe’s competitiveness, the green transition and the Digitalization as well as the defense.
Germany contributes the largest chunk
The huge pot is financed primarily from a share of the gross national income (GNI) of the member states. In addition, so-called own resources contribute as a source of income that flow directly to Brussels – such as tariffs on imports from non-European countries. In addition to the levy on large digital companies, the MPs are also in favor of, among other things, a levy on online gambling and a levy on capital gains from crypto assets.
Germany, which, as the EU’s largest economy, contributes by far the largest share of the budget, has already clearly rejected the EU Commission’s proposal. At a time when almost all member states were trying hard to save money at home, such sums were not appropriate, confirmed Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) just last week.
A diplomat from a net contributor country now said: “As long as national debt continues to rise and national budgets remain tense and under pressure, calls for an increase in the next EU budget have no credibility.” Even the introduction of new own funds would not change this.
Long negotiations expected
The negotiations on the budget between the EU states and with the EU Parliament are likely to be long and hard; the goal is currently to reach a conclusion by the end of the year. With today’s vote, Parliament’s negotiating position has been determined./rdz/DP/jha
