EU’s net payers prepare revolt as €1.8 trillion budget takes shape

The wealthier EU countries that bankroll the bloc’s spending are stepping up efforts to scale back Brussels’ proposed €1.8 trillion long-term budget.

Just weeks before high-stakes negotiations on the numbers are set to get underway, ministers representing nine net contributors — the EU members that pay more into the bloc than they get out of it — are meeting up to organize an opposition campaign. According to diplomats from four capitals taking part, Europe ministers will hold a breakfast meeting on Tuesday to plan how to oppose the proposal.

“The volume needs to come down, substantially,” Swedish European Affairs Minister Jessica Rosencrantz told POLITICO ahead of the meeting. “There’s simply not any room for a dramatic increase of Sweden’s contribution, or [that of] any other net payers for that matter. Sweden and others will make that very clear in the run-up to the next European Council.”

In addition to Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland and Belgium are expected to be represented in the talks, which are being held ahead of a General Affairs Council in Brussels where the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (long-term budget) is to be debated.

But a rival camp of 16 countries — including Italy, Spain and Poland — are pushing back on the mooted cuts. They argue that spending on agriculture, payments to poorer regions and fishing must be increased from the Commission’s budget proposal, where they make up less than half of total spending.

“In the Commission’s proposal, Cohesion Policy, CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) and the CFP (Common fisheries policy) are the only policies facing reductions in real terms, despite the overall increase in the size of the new MFF,” the countries wrote in a joint statement on Monday evening that was coordinated by Romania. Signatories include Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

Swedish European Affairs Minister Jessica Rosencrantz talks to Croatian Secretary of State Andreja Metelko-Zgombic and the Austrian Europe Minister Claudia Bauer before an EU General Affairs Ministers’ meeting in Brussels on March 17, 2026. | Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

Too much or too little?

The European Commission is hoping the bloc’s members will green-light its proposal to spend as much as €1.8 trillion between 2028 and 2034 as part of the package.

Including repayments for Covid-era debt, total spending would come to nearly €2 trillion, or 1.26 percent of the combined national income of all EU countries. By comparison the current 2021-2027 EU budget is equivalent to around 1.1 percent of member countries’ cumulative GDP.

“We must move away from the Brussels reflex of simply trying to solve every problem with more money,” said Austrian Europe Minister Claudia Bauer. “Especially at a time when many member states are having to make national savings and tough budgetary decisions, the EU too needs greater restraint.”

“That is why the net contributor countries are coordinating more closely,” Bauer added. “With a common approach and, where necessary, clear red lines for the next EU budget.”

Ticking clock

As negotiations become more heated, the 16 countries supporting a bigger budget are turning the screws on five states — Germany, Sweden, Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands — that enjoy discounts, known as rebates, on their EU budget contributions.

Their statement renewed calls on the Commission to abolish the rebates, arguing that “there is no political or economic rationale for re-introducing them.”

The 16 countries also signaled an appetite for deferring part of the repayment of the EU’s post-Covid borrowing, which is expected to cost €168 billion throughout the next budget cycle.

The breakfast diplomacy comes amid expectations that a NegoBox — a detailed breakdown of the proposed budget with concrete numbers and spending allocations — will be circulated in early June. The plans have been devised by Cyprus, which currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.

Cyprus has been holding talks with national delegations over the past few weeks to assess their red lines, and could present the updated budget breakdown as soon as June 10, said a further two envoys.

Following that, the plans will have to be put to ambassadors in Brussels and then will be discussed by presidents and prime ministers from across the EU at a European Council summit that begins on June 18.

Despite wanting to limit their own contributions, the group of nine net payers wants to underline that it supports increased spending on the bloc’s stated goals, like bolstering national security and strengthening industries.

“We need a timely agreement on a modern and future-proof MFF with priorities such as competitiveness and defence,” said Finland’s European Affairs Minister Joakim Strand. “At the same time, the overall level of the framework must be lower.”

Meanwhile, the new government of the Netherlands will call on Brussels to make “tough choices” on the new budget to ensure that resources are “allocated where they can generate the greatest cross-border EU added value and impact.” In a letter sent to the Dutch parliament last week, the country’s foreign and finance ministers said that significant savings would have to be found in key areas including agricultural subsidies, payments to poorer regions and the salaries of EU officials.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misrepresented Spain’s contributions to the EU’s long-term budget. This article was updated May 25 to note that Spain is a net contributor to the budget. It was also updated at the same time to accurately represent the Dutch position in the budget negotiations.

This story was updated May 25 following the issue of the statement coordinated by Romania.