Six EU countries threaten to withhold budget support unless spending is cut

The leaders of the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Austria have warned that they could withhold support for the EU’s proposed 2028–34 budget unless spending is cut by hundreds of billions of euros. ANP reported the warning from a letter seen by the Financial Times. [1]

The European Commission’s initial proposal totals €2 trillion. The same six governments called for cuts of several hundred billion euros to that proposal in August, Agence Europe reported. That figure refers to a reduction from the proposed new budget, not from current EU spending. [2]

ANP said the letter calls for fundamental budget reform and that the leaders want greater emphasis on defence and innovative businesses. [1]