German chancellor criticizes EU budget proposal, opposes more debt

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday called for cuts to the European Union’s next seven-year budget proposal and warned against taking on more debt than the bloc can afford.

“We must talk about the size of the budget,” Merz told reporters on the sidelines of an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels. “The proposal on the table is clearly too high. The numbers must come down,” he said.

Merz also pushed back against the idea of the EU taking on additional debt. “We can only spend as much money as we have,” he said. “Today at the European Council, I will reiterate my call for the European Union not to incur further debt. We must not do that,” Merz stressed.

The EU’s next long-term budget — the multiannual financial framework — will cover 2028 to 2034. It sets spending priorities for areas such as agriculture, regional development, industry and security. Germany, the bloc’s largest economy, is also its biggest net contributor, paying more into the common budget than it receives.