German Chancellor Rejects Additional Debt in EU Budget

Berlin (ANTARA) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, on Friday, criticised the proposal for the European Union’s next seven-year budget and asserted his rejection of any debt increase deemed to exceed the bloc’s financial capacity.

“We must discuss the scale of this budget,” Merz told journalists on the sidelines of the EU leaders’ meeting in Brussels.

According to him, the currently proposed budget remains too large.

“The proposal currently on the table is clearly too high. The figures must be lowered,” he said.

Merz also rejected the idea of the European Union taking on additional debt to finance its various programmes.

“We can only spend as much money as we have,” he said.

“Today in the European Council, I will once again reiterate the call for the European Union not to add new debt. We must not do it,” Merz emphasised.

The EU’s next long-term budget, known as the multiannual financial framework (MFF), will cover the period from 2028 to 2034.

This budgetary framework will determine the EU’s spending priorities across various sectors, including agriculture, regional development, industry, and security.

As the largest economy in the European Union, Germany is also the largest net contributor to the bloc’s shared budget, with contributions exceeding the funds it receives back from the EU budget.