Sweden pushes for frugal EU budget

Negotiations on the EU budget for 2028-2034 have barely begun, but at the informal summit, EU leaders will be able to reveal their colors.

The government is aggressively pursuing our budget-restrictive stance, and I know that it has broad support in the Swedish Riksdag, says Ulf Kristersson in the Riksdag's EU Committee.

Sweden is working with Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Finland to keep the size of the budget down. Sweden also rejects the European Commission's proposal to use joint loans for financing.

There is no free money, neither here nor in Europe, neither now nor later, says Kristersson.

The government is also pushing to maintain Sweden's discount on its EU contribution.