Key facts
- Germany and Spain are publicly disagreeing on the size of the EU's next seven-year budget.
- Spain's economy minister Carlos Cuerpo proposed increasing the budget to 2% of EU GNI and delaying post-COVID debt repayments.
- Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, and Finland opposed these ideas, advocating for budget cuts.
- The EU's next budget is estimated to be around €2 trillion.
- Negotiations are intensifying as an informal end-of-year deadline approaches.
Germany and Spain are publicly clashing over the size and financing of the European Union's next seven-year budget, estimated at approximately €2 trillion. The dispute highlights deep divisions among member states as negotiations intensify ahead of an informal end-of-year deadline.
Spanish economy minister Carlos Cuerpo broke ranks, advocating in a POLITICO opinion piece for the budget to be set at 2% of EU gross national income. He also proposed delaying the repayment of joint post-COVID debt, which he argued would free up €11 billion annually for agriculture, defense, and competitiveness.
In a counter-argument, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, alongside leaders from Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, and Finland, penned another opinion piece rejecting Spain's proposals. They contended that adding new priorities without cutting old ones and increasing taxpayer burdens is not the solution. These five countries contribute about 40% of the total EU budget and are pressuring the Irish presidency to implement significant cuts in an upcoming negotiating document.
European Council President António Costa has been actively engaging with leaders across the 25 EU countries to bridge the divides. The debate over the multiannual financial framework (MFF) is fierce, with countries fighting to protect their interests. The issue of repaying the €300 billion in joint debt issued in 2021 is a key sticking point, with Spain suggesting pushing back principal repayments to ease the burden on the next budget cycle, an idea supported by the European Commission and several other member states but opposed by Germany and its allies.