France defends €2 trillion EU budget, as Germany and others raise doubts
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France's Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad defended the idea of a larger EU budget, after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz poured doubts on a proposal to spend nearly €2 trillion between 2028 and 2034.
'We need a strong EU that gives itself the means to act," Haddad said in Brussels today, where ministers are having their first talks about the European Commission's new proposal. Haddad argued that threats from Russia and uncertainty about American security guarantees to Europe are reasons to support an "ambitious" budget.
France and Ireland have also expressed strong disapproval with the proposed cuts to the bloc's farm subsidy scheme, which is set to drop by around 20% and be partially merged with other payment envelopes. Haddad said Paris will fight for every centime of farm subsidies.
Ireland's Europe Minister Thomas Byrne told a radio program this morning: 'It's not something that we agree with. What we want is a strong and separate common agricultural policy that protects not just direct payments to farmers but also protects rural development funding as well.'
'Fake news,' Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin said of the 25–30% cut to farm subsidies. 'Direct payments will remain at current levels,' he told ministers, adding that the €300 billion earmarked for such payments is a floor, not a ceiling.
The governments of Germany, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria have been pouring scorn on the Commission's historic proposal to increase the budget from €1.2 trillion to almost €2 trillion during the next seven-year cycle.
"This proposal is very, very far removed from our Austrian position, [and] approval. In the beginning, we called for careful and smart use of Europeans' taxpayers' money, and this draft is neither careful nor smart," said Austrian Europe Minister Claudia Plakolm, who described it as "extraordinarily high."
"It's an enormous amount," said Finland's European Affairs Minister Joakim Strand, adding the EU should look more closely at how it spends its funds. In a statement before the meeting, Sweden's EU Minister Jessica Rosencrantz said: "The focus is right, but the size is wrong. We need a better budget, not bigger."
The disagreement also spans the Commission's proposed income sources. While France labelled new EU income sources a " sine qua non condition" in its position paper, Germany's Merz has already ruled out a new EU corporate tax as illegal. Even before von der Leyen's proposal was out Sweden called a new tobacco tax "completely unacceptable."
Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said: "I know the EU: everyone would like to pay less and receive more but at a certain point that no longer works, especially if we have commitments to each other to respect."
Overall, Serafin appeared unshaken by the irreconcilable views of member states, praising what he called an 'extremely constructive, informative' debate with 'a lot of pragmatism.'
Serafin defended the budget size, arguing that both competitiveness and defence are more effectively financed at EU level. A larger common budget could help member states meet NATO's 5% defence spending benchmark, he added.
No Catalan consensus
At the same meeting, Spain is also reviving its push to get Catalan, Basque, and Galician recognised as official languages of the EU, but ran into familiar headwinds over the legal and financial implications of such a move.
Fernando Sampedro, Spain's state secretary for EU affairs, said that it would amount to discrimination were countries not to accept Madrid's demands, and reiterated that Spain was happy to cover all the costs.
Luxembourg's Bettel said it was difficult to agree to such a move when the EU had only just signed off on new sanctions against Russia and still can't find a unified position on Israel's continued war in Gaza.
'Momentum is really not the right one if we're not able to agree on anything else," he said.
Nick Alipour contributed to reporting.
(mm)
UPDATE: The article has been updated with Serafin's comments.
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