Plenary vote sets the stage for tense negotiations with national governments.
Gregorio Sorgi
The Parliament also called for more earmarking of funds for EU programs, and the imposition of new, EU-wide taxes on online gambling, tech giants such as Amazon and Google, and crypto firms.
The Commission’s proposal for the 2028 to 2034 period envisages €1.8 trillion for expenditure on areas such as subsidies for farmers, industrial development and international aid schemes. In addition, it earmarks around €165 billion to pay back the common debt that was issued to finance the EU’s post-Covid recovery package — a measure that makes the total budget rise to €1.984 trillion.
Parliament is calling for the total size of the budget to be expanded to €2 trillion, excluding the Covid debt repayments. That would effectively mean increasing its size by 10 percent.
“We believe we cannot do more with less, that is a myth,” said Siegfried Mureșan of the conservative European People’s Party, who is the Parliament’s lead budget negotiator alongside Carla Tavares of the Socialists & Democrats.
