Commission rejects EU budget cut as unjustified

• Serafin said the Commission is very unhappy with the outcome.
• He said the proposed volume does not match the EU’s needs.
• He said the Presidency’s cuts to cushions, reserves and margins were a political choice.

Commissioner Serafin told EU ministers in Luxembourg that the Commission does not accept the revised negotiating box. He said the Presidency’s proposal is too small for the bloc’s next long-term budget.

Commission rejects EU budget cut as unjustified

Serafin thanked Thomas and his team for preparing the revised nego-box. He said criticism of the Irish presidency was unfounded and unjustified, while the Presidency had listened to all members and reflected the current state of play in the Council talks.

He said the Commission was very unhappy with the outcome. The proposed volume, he said, does not match the needs the EU has set for itself.

Serafin said the box is also bad news for European taxpayers. He said investments in competitiveness, connectivity and security still need to be carried out, but are now more likely to be fragmented and uncoordinated.

He pointed to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, tensions in transatlantic relations and intensifying trade disputes. In that setting, he said, more common projects are needed and resources must be found to fund them.

The commissioner said many cushions, reserves and margins had been cut. He described that as a political choice and said it was not a good one.

Budget scale

Serafin said the EU agreed in December 2020 to a budget amounting to around 1.13% of EU GNI, with EUR 750 billion of NextGenerationEU on top. He said the budget now being discussed would amount to around 1.02% of EU GNI in investments, excluding NGEU repayments.

He said that was 0.11 percentage points smaller than the size of the economy in 2020. He also said the EU budget is equivalent to about four days of European economic output, and the Commission proposal would take that to roughly four and a half days.

By comparison, he said, national government spending across the EU represents almost half the economy, or roughly six months of output.

Revenue and administration

On revenue, Serafin welcomed the Presidency’s keeping the package of new own resources on the table. He said leaders can now decide on a balanced and ambitious package, and that the Commission stands ready to help calibrate the final package.

He also said the cuts proposed by the Presidency jeopardise administrative capacity. Delivering the EU’s ambitions, he said, requires institutions that can handle existing and new tasks adequately.