The European Commission is demanding more money from the Member States of the Union. However, Chancellor Karl Nehammer rejected it. He calls for shifts in the EU budget to cope with increased spending on aid to Ukraine and protection of the external borders.
“We are net contributors, which means that we talk about the fact that the money we give to the EU is also taxpayers’ money,” the Chancellor stressed in the Ö1 “Morgenjournal” on Friday. Using existing funds should be a “priority before demanding new tax money from member states,” Nehammer said.
Nehammer: First depletion funds
He sees opportunities to reallocate resources, ie shorten them elsewhere, in administration, costing up to 13 billion euros. The Chancellor also sees savings potential in the EU’s Cohesion Fund and the Reconstruction Fund, which have not yet been exhausted.
EU: Money is reserved
The Commission does not agree: most of the resources of the two funds – Nehammer spoke of a total amount of EUR 480 billion – have already been earmarked. In addition, the spending of the funds is regulated by regulations and therefore cannot simply be postponed, the committee argued.
In addition, Johannes Hahn, EU Commissioner for Budget and Administration, recently pointed out that the extra money will also be used to fulfill the wishes of the Member States. This is intended, among other things, to improve the protection of the external borders, which is also strongly requested by the Austrian government.
“Commission comes with plans”
In any case, Nehammer first calls for consideration to be given to the use of the funds already available: “It would be good if the European Commission presents how it intends to redistribute, and then we see whether it actually works in such a way that it works in the best way. of the Member States.”
On Tuesday, the European Commission asked the 27 member states to contribute around €66 billion in addition to the multiannual financial framework until 2027. For Austria, the increase would mean an additional EUR 1.6 billion. About €50 billion is planned to support Ukraine from 2024 to 2027, of which €15 billion will be made available from the EU budget for migration and neighborhood policies.
EU money must generate investment
There are also additional resources according to European Commission plans for the competitiveness of the European Union. According to Von der Leyen, ten billion euros have been set aside for this. The money would flow to certain funds to promote green technologies or biotechnologies. This should generate investments of 160 billion euros.
Finally, the rising financing costs and fixed costs in the EU administration of EUR 1.9 billion in the EU budget should be taken into account. According to the EU Commission, the EU budget for the years 2021 to 2027 has been “maximised” due to the high costs of supporting Ukraine, among others. In 2020, the EU agreed on a collective budget of around €1.1 trillion for the years 2021 to 2027.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
