The largest budget contributor has repeatedly called for deeper and more balanced cuts
Germany is demanding that the EU’s next seven-year budget be trimmed by €400 billion, warning that an agreement on the proposed €2 trillion spending plan is “impossible” in its current form.
The cut would still leave Berlin paying more than €50 billion a year, but the government argues that “as it stands, an agreement is impossible”, according to an internal document reported by Reuters.
Berlin has long pushed for deeper cuts to the European Commission’s proposal for 2028-2034, alongside a group of fiscally frugal countries including Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands.
After a recent EU summit, Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said the budget plans would mean Germany would pay “at least €15 billion, more likely €20 billion” more per year, calling the current figures “unaffordable and unbalanced”.
