Germany calls for major cuts to €2T EU budget proposal

Germany just told the European Commission its proposed budget needs to go on a serious diet. The EU’s largest net contributor, joined by five other fiscally conservative nations, is demanding cuts of several hundred billion euros from a nearly €2 trillion spending plan that would cover 2028 through 2034. The coalition, which includes Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden, issued a joint statement on August 27, 2026, calling for balanced reductions across all spending categories. Together, these six countries fund roughly 40% of the EU budget, which gives their objections considerably more weight than a polite suggestion. The numbers behind the standoff The European Commission’s proposed Multiannual Financial Framework represents a roughly 60% increase over the current seven-year budget, which runs from 2021 to 2027 and sits in the range of €1.3 to €1.4 trillion. Germany’s specific target, outlined in a leaked internal document from June 2026, is a €400 billion reduction. That would still leave the next MFF significantly larger than the current one in real terms, but it would bring the figure closer to what Berlin considers sustainable. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has...