Six EU net contributors demand hundreds of billions in cuts to long-term budget

BRUSSELS: Six major European Union net contributor countries have jointly called for cuts of several hundred billion euros to the bloc’s proposed long-term budget for 2028-2034.

According to a Reuters report, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Sweden have raised concerns over the European Commission’s proposed budget of nearly €2 trillion ($2.33 trillion). The six countries are seeking substantial reductions and have called for all areas of spending to contribute to the savings.

Germany had earlier proposed cutting around €400 billion from the budget, citing concerns over affordability. The six countries also called for higher spending on shared priorities including defence, competitiveness, migration and European sovereignty.

The countries, which contribute more to the EU budget than they receive, also opposed taking on new joint EU debt. They called for EU funding to remain subject to strict rule-of-law conditions and urged EU institutions to operate within their existing staffing levels.

European Council President Antonio Costa is holding consultations with member states as negotiations continue, with the aim of reaching unanimous agreement among all 27 EU countries by the end of 2026.