The European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen presents the staggering figure – equivalent to 22,000 billion Swedish kronor – at a press conference in Brussels.
This is a two-trillion budget for a new era. It is a budget that matches Europe's ambitions, that addresses Europe's challenges and that strengthens our independence. It is larger. It is smarter. It is sharper, claims von der Leyen.
The budget is to apply for the years 2028–2034 and means a significant increase in pure numerical terms compared to the ongoing long-term budget. The largest sums go as usual to agricultural and regional support, even if their share of the budget decreases again.
New taxes?
Despite the increase, Ursula von der Leyen promises that the EU's member states will not have to pay more than before. Instead, she wants to see new direct revenue for the Commission, from among other things taxes on tobacco, large companies and electronic waste.
The main purpose is to be able to pay off the large common loan that was taken up to help the EU countries' economy after the coronavirus pandemic.
New EU taxes are, however, constantly controversial and usually have a very hard time getting approved by the EU's member states, who ultimately are the ones who will decide how large the budget will be.
"We must enter this debate with an open mind and a sense of collective responsibility," writes the EU's Council President António Costa, who gets a key role in uniting the member states around a final result.
More or less?
The criticism is nonetheless immediate, both from those who want to invest more and those who instead want to save.
The support for farmers needs to be increased, not questioned and not reduced, thunders the Romanian Christian Democrat Siegfried Muresan, who is one of the EU Parliament's two chief negotiators for the budget.
"The budget is far too high," states the Netherlands' Finance Minister Eelco Heinen in a statement according to the news site Politico Europe.
The negotiations on the budget are likely to continue until the middle of 2027.
Wiktor Nummelin/TT
Fact: The EU's new long-term budget
TT
The European Commission's proposal for a new long-term budget lands, according to information to the news site Euractiv, at a total of 1,984.9 billion euros, distributed across four main areas:
1,062.2 billion (53 percent) to everything from agricultural and regional support, migration management and repayment of the common corona loan. This includes 300 billion euros in direct support to agriculture and 218 billion to the poorest regions.
589.6 billion (29 percent) to "better competitiveness" – which also includes defense, research and student exchanges, among other things.
215.2 billion (11 percent) to "global issues", with aid and support to neighboring regions and countries that are on their way into the EU.
117.9 billion (6 percent) to "administration and other", such as salaries and pensions.
Sources: European Commission, Euractiv
