German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for a significant reduction in the European Union’s budget for 2028–2034, stating that the current draft financial plan is too large in scale. He said this on Tuesday, July 28, during a visit to Ireland, Deutsche Welle reports.

Earlier, the European Commission proposed a seven-year EU budget of about €1.76 trillion. The funds are intended to be allocated to pan-European programs, including defense procurement, agricultural support, regional development, job creation, and the Erasmus student exchange program.

Merz described the planned budget increase as “unacceptable” and urged Brussels to make “cuts across all areas” amounting to several hundred billion euros.

According to him, the parameters presented by the European Commission “are not balanced,” and the future financial plan must remain acceptable for Germany as the largest contributor to the EU budget.

Negotiations on the new budget remain one of the most difficult issues in the European Union. The financial plan is approved for seven years, and the European Commission is currently discussing it with the 27 member states.

The main part of the budget is formed from contributions by EU countries, calculated on the basis of their gross national income. In addition to Germany, other donor states — the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark — also support spending cuts, as they contribute more to the common budget than they receive back.

Ireland, which will hold the presidency of the Council of the EU from July 2026, is responsible for advancing the budget negotiations. Dublin plans to present a compromise version of the financial plan in October. However, according to the dpa news agency, reaching an agreement before the end of the year will be difficult due to serious disagreements among the member states.

During his visit to Ireland, Merz also thanked Prime Minister Micheál Martin for his involvement in seeking a solution to this issue.