Budgets are where political priorities become real. Speeches, declarations and summit conclusions matter, but ultimately it is the allocation of money that reveals what governments are genuinely prepared to prioritize. Europe needs to become more competitive, more sovereign and better able to defend itself. There is no other choice.
Our budget must reflect that new reality.
The status quo of the current MFF cannot be the starting point. It is too focused on subsidies and transfers allocated largely in advance, leaving too little room for what Europe urgently needs: common investment in security and defense, competitiveness, innovation, and the fight against irregular migration. The next MFF will be the test of whether Europe has understood the message of Mario Draghi’s landmark report on European competitiveness. It will show whether our promises of more common European investment are real — or just rhetoric.
That requires choices. And choices require political courage. This does not mean abandoning traditional policies, but we cannot just add every new priority to every old one and send the bill to taxpayers.
Almost every EU member country is making painful efforts to consolidate its public finances. Those that are not should concern us even more. There will be no European sovereignty without sound public finances.
We are doing our part: The group of net contributors that recently met in Berlin stands for almost 40% of the financing of the EU budget and provides around 70% of EU member countries’ bilateral support for Ukraine. We are investing heavily in our common security and defense. We are not tight-fisted. Nor are we hiding behind the label “frugal.” In fact, when it comes to supporting Ukraine, greater engagement by other member states is both reasonable and urgently needed.