Five EU leaders: Europe must spend better, not just more
Mette Frederiksen is prime minister of Denmark. Friedrich Merz is chancellor of Germany. Rob Jetten is prime minister of the Netherlands. Christian Stocker is chancellor of Austria. Petteri Orpo is prime minister of Finland.
In a more dangerous and uncertain world, a strong Europe must be ready to make bold choices. In a world of real fiscal constraints, Europe cannot fund new priorities by simply adding them to old ones. We must make choices.
Europe’s next long-term budget is about much more than money. It’s about political priorities. The next Multiannual Financial Framework will determine how Europe spends its common resources well into the next decade.
Budgets are where political priorities become real. Speeches, declarations and summit conclusions matter, but ultimately it is the allocation of money that reveals what governments are genuinely prepared to prioritize. Europe needs to become more competitive, more sovereign and better able to defend itself. There is no other choice.
Our budget must reflect that new reality.
The status quo of the current MFF cannot be the starting point. It is too focused on subsidies and transfers allocated largely in advance, leaving too little room for what Europe urgently needs: common investment in security and defense, competitiveness, innovation, and the fight against irregular migration. The next MFF will be the test of whether Europe has understood the message of Mario Draghi’s landmark report on European competitiveness. It will show whether our promises of more common European investment are real — or just rhetoric.
That requires choices. And choices require political courage. This does not mean abandoning traditional policies, but we cannot just add every new priority to every old one and send the bill to taxpayers.
Almost every EU member country is making painful efforts to consolidate its public finances. Those that are not should concern us even more. There will be no European sovereignty without sound public finances.
We are doing our part: The group of net contributors that recently met in Berlin stands for almost 40% of the financing of the EU budget and provides around 70% of EU member countries’ bilateral support for Ukraine. We are investing heavily in our common security and defense. We are not tight-fisted. Nor are we hiding behind the label “frugal.” In fact, when it comes to supporting Ukraine, greater engagement by other member states is both reasonable and urgently needed.
We are not calling for cuts compared to the existing MFF. The MFF will grow to address our strategic priorities. Any such increase during a period of domestic fiscal consolidation is already a significant commitment. It shows how seriously we take the need for a stronger Europe. But we also need to be realistic.
The European Commission has proposed a nominal increase of around 60%. That is simply not realistic. Not economically, not politically and certainly not at a time when public finances in several member countries are a cause for serious concern. This is why we call for a balanced cut to the Commission’s proposal of several hundred billion euros. In times when we are reducing staffing levels, we expect the EU institutions to operate with the staff they have today. There can be no increase.
The EU budget is ultimately paid for by European citizens. That remains true whatever financing mechanism we invent. So, there is no avoiding the difficult question of the overall volume.
Common borrowing cannot be the answer either: The debt taken on during the pandemic will already burden the next MFF by almost €170 billion. That money is no longer available for our new priorities. Much of the cost consists of interest payments that must be made regardless of when the principal is repaid. Postponing repayment does little to solve the financing equation.
It should be self-evident to everyone that respect for our common values and the rule of law are indispensable preconditions to any European funding.
The world around us has changed, our common priorities have, and our common budget must too. It is the only way to build a strong Europe that is fit for the future.
