Germany’s Merz calls for more investment, less subsidies in EU budget
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged the European Union on Thursday to reform its budget to include more investments and reduce subsidies, but rejected any joint borrowing by EU
ManyPress Editorial Team
ManyPress Editorial
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged the European Union on Thursday to reform its budget to include more investments and reduce subsidies, but rejected any joint borrowing by EU nations to do so. The 27 EU nations are wrangling over the bloc’s 2028-2034 budget, with so-called frugal nations like Germany and the Netherlands opposing a big increase in spending proposed by the bloc’s executive Comm
Key points
- “We cannot meet the challenges of the 21st century with a 20th-century budget,” the conservative leader declared in Aachen, Germany, in a speech at the ceremony awarding the Charlemagne Prize to fo…
- In a hard-hitting report on European competitiveness in 2024, Draghi called for a fundamental change of course by the bloc to stay in the race against the United States and China, notably through j…
- Merz supported Draghi’s call, criticising the fact that the EU’s budget “has remained, in its content and structure, practically unchanged over the past decades”.
- He lashed out at the fact that “more than two-thirds of European funds go to redistribution and subsidies”.
- The EU has long relied upon subsidies and redistribution to assuage the impact from disruptions caused by reducing internal trade barriers, as well as to help integrate poorer nations as the bloc h…
This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by Euractiv Economy.