Germany criticized the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, regarding the difficult negotiations related to the upcoming seven-year budget of the European Union. Gunther Krichbaum, a representative from Germany, stated on the sidelines of a meeting of European ministers in Brussels that Costa's recent interview with the media "has not helped much" and emphasized the need for "more realism" regarding the budget.
The role of new taxes in the European budget
In this interview conducted last December at the end of Costa's budget trip to the capitals of the European Union, he stated that an agreement on new taxes at the EU level, known as own resources, is vital to prevent major cuts in the budget and control national contributions to Brussels. Costa also added that a reduction in the nearly 2 trillion euro proposal from the European Commission may face opposition from many national governments.
However, Germany and its allies in Northern Europe, whose contributions to the budget exceed their receipts from the European Union, are going in the opposite direction and emphasize the need to reduce the budget by hundreds of billions of euros. They argue that introducing new taxes in the EU is not a substitute for major cuts.
Pressure on national budgets and its consequences
Gunther Krichbaum further told reporters: "One must ask whether Mr. Costa is really out of touch with reality?" He also pointed to the immense pressures on national budgets and added: "Everyone knows that the sky is limited." These statements reflect growing concerns among Northern European countries worried about rising EU costs.
European governments are lobbying for the presidency of Ireland over the Council of the European Union, which leads the budget negotiations, to reflect their preferences in a new budget negotiation document, also known as the "negotiation box." This document is expected to be presented in early October.
Ireland has asked ministers to clarify at Tuesday's meeting which sensitive issues they are ready to compromise on, including spending cuts and own resources.
Antonio Costa will take responsibility for continuing the negotiations after the European Council in October when EU leaders will respond to Ireland's proposal. Last month, Costa visited 25 capitals of the European Union to gather leaders' opinions on the most sensitive issues in the negotiations.
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