António Costa proposes new EU revenue sources for 2028-2034 budget

European Council President António Costa is advocating for the implementation of new own resources—direct community taxes—to fund the 2028-2034 EU budget. During a meeting in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Costa argued that creating these new revenue streams is the only way to prevent increasing the national contributions of member states.

Costa emphasized that the EU cannot demand more from its members and that new resources are necessary to protect national budgets while funding strategic autonomy in areas such as defense, competitiveness, and climate transition. Currently, agreement has only been reached on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and a tax on non-collected electronic waste, which together total approximately 20 billion euros.

In contrast, Chancellor Merz has called for significant reductions to the European Commission's nearly two-trillion-euro proposal, describing it as ‘simply prohibitive’ for European taxpayers. Germany, which finances a quarter of the EU budget, remains focused on ensuring the next financial framework does not increase the burden on its citizens. The EU aims to present a narrowed list of acceptable community taxes to leaders by October 15.