EU faces German push for €450 billion cut to €2 trillion budget

The European Union is negotiating its long‑term budget for 2028‑2034, estimated at about €2 trillion. Germany has labelled the plan “unaffordable” and is demanding cuts of roughly €450 billion, noting that even a reduced budget would still be about 27 % larger than the current framework.

Germany currently finances about a quarter of the EU budget – roughly €30 billion a year – and under the proposed framework its annual contribution could rise to around €78 billion. To fund the enlarged budget the European Commission is proposing new EU‑wide taxes, often called “own resources”, while countries such as Poland and Italy oppose carbon‑related levies. The negotiations remain contentious, with net‑paying member states pushing back against the proposed spending levels.