EU's budget CRISIS: Brussels to demand bloc nations stump up for Brexit black hole
BRUSSELS is to demand hikes in budget contributions for members in a bid to sustain the bloc’s spending power post-Brexit.
European Union leaders are expected to discuss the next long-term budget at a summit in February.
The tense negotiations will be one of the big political battles the bloc will face this year.
Such negotiations have historically been a fraught process in Brussels with the €960bn 2014-2020 budget talking almost 18months and several summits to reach an agreement.
The challenge is expected to be fraught as the UK’s exit leaves a €10bn hole in their budget - Britain is one of the biggest contributors to the bloc’s budget, pumping in around 11 per cent.
There is also demands for extra spending on migration, and rising east-west tensions between net contributors and net receivers.
The EU budget commissioner, Günther Oettinger, has said half the money should be made up by cuts and the remainders “by additional money from net payers”.
Agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan las month asked whether member states would be prepared to increase their contribution from one per cent to 1.1 or 1.2 per cent of their gross national income.
Of the proposal, Eulalia Rubio of the Jacques Delors Institute said: “Compared to the last [long-term budget], which was agreed in the middle of austerity policies, it seems member states are more open to an increase.
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“They are not going to fight to keep it at one per cent.”
Germany is keen to ensure countries, such as Poland and Hungary, uphold key EU values in return for a larger financial contribution.
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have refused to take in asylum-seekers from Italy and Greece, leading the EU to threaten fines and court proceedings.
This comes after it was revealed in November EU MPs want to see the club’s budget balloon to an astonishing £145.3 billion next year.
The EU parliament’s proposal, which would represent a bank-busting rise of £4bn compared with year, could see Britain pay out a gross share of £16bn towards its last budget as a full member.
More than half of MEPs have to vote for the EU budget for it to be approved, whilst it must also pass a Qualified Majority Vote (QMV) in the European Council.
However, member states can deploy what is known as a “blocking minority” to stop any cash proposals going through, with many wealthier member states reluctant to pay more into the pot.