EU unveils blueprint for boosted 2-trillioneuro budget

AFP | Brussels

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The EU executive proposed yesterday a long-term budget boosted to two trillion euros ($2.3 trillion) as Europe confronts complex challenges, from overseas competition to Russian aggression at its borders.

Presenting the 2028-2034 budget blueprint to reporters in Brussels, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said it “will be the most ambitious ever proposed. It is more strategic, more flexible, more transparent”.

In drawing up the plans, von der Leyen had to balance bolstering the bloc’s security, ramping up Europe’s competitiveness to keep up with US and Chinese rivals, countering climate change and paying debts due from 2028.

And all of this was against a backdrop of soaring trade tensions with the European Union’s biggest commercial partner, the United States. The European Commission announced a 451-billion-euro competitiveness fund to support the EU’s investment efforts in clean tech, digital, defence and food security and innovation.

As Europe pushes to rearm, the amounts dedicated to defence and space will increase five-fold -- to 131 billion euros.

And the spending plan proposed earmarking up to 100 billion euros to support war-torn Ukraine over its seven-year period.

“This is a long-term commitment to Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction,” budget chief Piotr Serafin said. Hungary, Russia’s closest ally in Europe, slammed the money for Kyiv.

“Ukraine would get a massive funding boost, while European farmers lose out,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said before the official announcement by the commission.

The large farming subsidies that make up the biggest share of the budget, known as the common agricultural policy (CAP), are a subject of fierce debate.

Serafin, however, said that under the commission’s plans, 300 billion euros would be ring-fenced to support farmers, who have been worried about potential cuts to their slice of the pie. In the current seven-year budget, the CAP accounted for almost a third of funding -- around 387 billion euros, of which 270 billion euros are directly paid to farmers.