Berlin is set to demand sweeping reductions in the EU’s multiannual budget, challenging Brussels’ spending plans. Negotiations could reshape funding for Ukraine and new EU posts.

The German Federal Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said that Berlin does not agree with the current multiannual EU budget proposal and demands to cut its total size by several hundred billion euros.

He said this at a joint press conference with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin.

Key positions on the EU budget

We do not agree with the current proposals of the European Commission. Such a significant expansion of the European budget is unacceptable for us. The figures are not balanced

– Friedrich Merz

According to him, EU member states are making significant efforts to consolidate national budgets, so they cannot afford excessive increases in spending at the EU level.

We need a budget proposal with reductions across the board, totaling several hundred billion euros. These reductions are mandatory, regardless of how far we advance on the issue of new own resources

– Friedrich Merz

He also spoke out against plans to create 2,500 new posts in EU institutions.

Over the next four years the federal government will cut 8% of positions in the federal administration. Therefore I want to tell the European Commission: it is unacceptable to create 2,500 new posts for European institutions now. We will not accept this

– Friedrich Merz

At the same time, Merz did not name a concrete final amount by which Germany seeks to reduce the budget.

You will understand that I will not name specific figures regarding the cuts in the Commission’s budget proposal. I said: several hundred billion euros less. The exact amount is a matter for discussion

– Friedrich Merz

Merz also rejected introducing additional corporate taxation at EU level, stressing that new revenue sources must be evaluated with regard to the competitiveness of European industry.

The European Commission had earlier proposed the EU multiannual budget for 2028–2034 totaling nearly 2 trillion euros. Additionally, the proposal foresees allocating 100 billion euros to support Ukraine.

Negotiations on the budget are ongoing, with the parties’ positions remaining substantially different.