Dutch PM lashes out at EU budget increase

by Benedikt Stockl

Brussels should tighten its belt instead of asking EU countries for additional contributions to its multi-annual budget, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD/Renew) told the EU Council on Thursday, pointing to his country needing to be more fiscally conservative in the future.

EU leaders discussed the Commission’s request for member states to provide an additional €66 billion to its 2021-2027 long-term budget for the first time on Thursday, as the bloc’s executive aims to cope with financial hardships stemming from the ongoing support of Ukraine, migration management and rising borrowing costs for the pandemic recovery plan.

While Rutte acknowledged that an increase of the EU’s budget is “probably” necessary, he told reporters that “this should be done by reprioritising money within the EU budget. So, our three priorities are: reprioritise, reprioritise and reprioritise”.

“Just like in the national budget, you have to tighten your belt on other items from time to time. We have to do the same in the Netherlands,” the outgoing prime minister added, stating that “nobody is looking forward” to opening their wallet for Brussels in a time of great pressure on spending.

Rutte’s words echoed the sentiments of several Dutch advisory bodies, which had previously urged the state to reel in its spending following several years of loosened fiscal reins due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The Netherlands has been one of the fiercest critics of the EU executive’s request for extra cash, as member states are nearly unanimous in opposing the new revenue streams put forward by the Commission.

Outgoing Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag (D66/Renew) had already expressed her disdain for the proposal back when meeting her EU counterparts in July, stating that “GNI [Gross National Income] contributions will ensure sufficient funds are available for the EU budget”.

Support for Ukraine

Despite his overall disapproval of the Commission’s plans, Rutte nevertheless admitted that he supports the proposed additional funds for Ukraine, as “everyone is actually in favour of that”.

However, it remains to be seen whether member states will actually vote unanimously on the issue, as Hungary may try to block approval of the proposed EU budget at the regular EU summit in December.

The Dutch will continue security guarantee talks with Ukraine this weekend in Malta, where the two sides will discuss the supply of F-16 fighter jets and air defence systems.

*first published in: Euractiv.com