Further cuts and lack of ambition in new revenues to the upcoming EU long-term budget would not necessarily make the EU cheaper for taxpayers, European Commissioner for Budget Piotr Serafin said on Thursday, in a message to the so-called “frugal” countries that are seeking to reduce the EU long-term budget.
The European Commission presented the €2 trillion budget for 2028–2034 in July 2025, and member states are currently negotiating it. Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Austria have a solid negotiation position of decreasing the proposed spending, and are reluctant to identify new streams of revenue.
A group of sixteen southern and eastern European nations oppose this, requesting in late May an increase in spending on regional funding and agriculture, which had already been drastically cut in the Commission’s July 2025 proposal. The “friends of cohesion” was their moniker.During a speech at the annual budget conference in Brussels on Thursday, Serafin criticized the thrifty people who have attempted to rebrand themselves as the “modernizers”.
During the event, Serafin stated, “We need to be mindful of the link between having a frugal budget and having a modern budget. The truth is that a more frugal budget may not necessarily be more modern,” the Commissioner remarked, stressing that a decreased budget could hinder some aspects of modernisation.
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