BERLIN, August 27. /TASS/. Six EU countries have called for reducing the European Commission’s proposed budget by several hundred billion euros and opposed new common borrowing, according to a joint statement by Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Sweden, released by the German government’s press service.
The statement said that negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-2034 had entered a decisive stage and that the countries "jointly support the ambition to conclude the negotiations in 2026." It emphasized that the European Union must make clear choices and reprioritize within the budget.
"To arrive at an acceptable landing zone, the Commission’s proposal of nearly 2 trillion Euros needs to be reduced by several hundred billion Euros in a balanced manner. All headings should contribute to such reductions," the statement said.
"Given the exceptionally high level of outstanding payment commitments under the current MFF, together with additional transfer mechanisms outside the MFF, a holistic assessment of the payment flows is necessary in the context of the MFF negotiations. Furthermore, we expect the EU institutions to organize their workload within the existing staff levels. Excessive net imbalances must be corrected," it noted.
