German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for a "fundamental modernisation" of the EU budget to strengthen Europe's position as an independent power on the world stage.
Merz called for the EU's medium-term financial planning to be more focused on strengthening its military and economic potential. “Optimising the structure, investing in competitiveness and defence, focusing on pan-European means to pursue pan-European policies - all this is necessary because resources are limited“, said the German chancellor, speaking in Aachen on the occasion of the awarding of the international “Charlemagne“ prize.
At the same time, he strongly rejected the idea to increase new debts. "Germany cannot follow this path, if only for constitutional reasons," he said. Merz criticized the fact that the EU budget is still drawn up seven years in advance "in an absolutely planned manner," and that more than two-thirds of the funds are spent on "redistribution and subsidies." He now believes that it is necessary to use the budget primarily to strengthen European sovereignty in a world in which the policies of great powers such as the United States, China and Russia play a decisive role.
At the same time, the German chancellor pointed out that Europe will only be able to assert itself in the world through strength in the economic and security policy fields. "Europe has set itself the goal of becoming a power - a power capable of withstanding the storms of this new era," Merz argued.
The budget of The EU is adopted for a period of 7 years. Negotiations are currently underway on the budget plan for 2028-2034, the volume of which, according to the European Commission's proposal, should amount to 1.76 trillion euros, taking into account inflation. Germany, as the largest economy in the EU, is by far the largest contributor.