According to the EU Commission, the holes in the EU budget are too big. She asks the member states to provide the EU with an additional total of almost 66 billion euros for the coming years, said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels. The money should flow into the areas of migration, Ukraine and competition, but also be used for higher interest rates and additional costs due to inflation.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner rejected the project: “In view of the serious budgetary situation in many member states, now is the wrong time to register additional financial needs,” tweeted the FDP politician. Instead, EU Commission President von der Leyen should look at existing leeway and restructuring in the budget.
Tweet Lindner
In 2020, after tough negotiations, the EU agreed on a joint budget of around 1.1 trillion euros for the next seven years. During these negotiations on the EU financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027, the Federal Republic and the other net contributors agreed to increase their contributions again in order to largely compensate for the loss caused by the net contributor Great Britain leaving the EU.
The financial planning was then regularly reviewed. “The diverse challenges of recent years have exhausted the EU’s flexibility and ability to react to future crises,” said Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn. The now proposed revision of the so-called multiannual financial framework is “a realistic and targeted way forward”.
Ukraine and migration to the EU
Part of the money should go to the financial reserve for Ukraine in the amount of 50 billion euros for the years 2024-2027. According to the EU Commission, the annual amounts should be determined each year according to the needs of Ukraine and the current situation. Loans are included, but also grants for the war-torn country. On the one hand, this is intended to stabilize the economy, but it is also intended to initiate important reforms that are important for Ukraine’s planned EU accession.
In order to cope with the challenges of migration to the EU, the EU needs an additional 15 billion euros, said von der Leyen. “We have to work more closely with our neighborhood to promote their economic development and to stabilize these countries,” said von der Leyen. Among other things, two billion euros are to flow into border controls and the implementation of the new migration package.
competitiveness of the economy
The third priority is the competitiveness of the EU economy. According to von der Leyen, it is crucial to have a “technological lead in the world of tomorrow”. Therefore, the EU is asking for a limited increase of ten billion euros for certain funds to promote green technologies or biotechnologies.
“The member states must not continue to put the brakes on,” said the budget spokesman for the Greens in the European Parliament, Rasmus Andresen. “We expect Chancellor Scholz in particular to support an increase in future areas such as common, green and European infrastructure.”
Now the European Parliament and the EU states have to negotiate the EU Commission’s proposal. According to the EU Commission, the negotiations should be completed before the end of the year, otherwise urgent budgetary constraints will already arise in 2024.
