Ringen um Billionen-Haushalt: Neuer Vorschlag soll Bewegung in EU-Haushaltsstreit bringen

Ratspräsident António Costa plans to present a new negotiation proposal for the upcoming long-term EU Community budget in the coming weeks, according to an EU official at a Brussels fall summit. This is expected to occur on November 26th, with a potential agreement reached three weeks later at the regular summit. Costa has been asked to push forward negotiations on the next budget for 2028-2034, aiming for a "timely agreement."

Costa aims to advance negotiations primarily in three areas: preventing national contributions for individual member states from rising to an unacceptable level; working on a new package of additional EU own resources with the European Commission and member states, including exploring new ideas such as suggestions from the European Parliament and a potential 6G own resource source; and maintaining enough flexibility in the budget to respond to unforeseen crises.

Unlike previously discussed, discussions on possible new own resources will not be separated but will be part of a comprehensive package that includes budget size, national contributions, new revenue sources, and flexibility. This approach is intended to create space for a more ambitious budget without needing to significantly increase member state contributions. The final size of the next financial framework remains to be determined.

EU officials emphasized that all levers should be worked on in the next negotiation proposal. The final figure compared to the recent Irish proposal and the funding for agricultural and structural support for many countries is still unclear. The dispute over future EU finances intensified last weekend when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected a new concept proposed by the Irish presidency, which called for cutting the next budget by about 159 billion euros compared to the original EU Commission proposal.

Germany and other important net contributor countries like the Netherlands, Sweden, and Austria initially demanded a budget cut of several hundred billion euros, as they contribute more to the EU budget than they receive in return.