Marie Bjerre: A stronger Europe requires a stronger budget

It is not the Danish government’s policy that the EU budget should increase, but the government does not rule anything out in advance.

This is what European Minister Marie Bjerre (V) says ahead of a ministerial meeting in Brussels on Friday.

– First and foremost, we will look at how we can prioritize the budget better. But we need to have a stronger Europe, and therefore we also need to have a stronger budget, says Marie Bjerre.

Previously, the Danish government has opposed the EU budget growing, and that Denmark and the other EU countries should therefore pay more.

Therefore, according to the minister, the discussion should first focus on whether the money can be used more wisely. Then one can discuss the size of the budget.

– We rule nothing out in advance, says Marie Bjerre ahead of the meeting.

At the meeting, the countries will discuss the proposal for the long-term budget for the EU for the first time, which the EU Commission presented on Wednesday.

As the EU presidency country, Denmark has a leading role in the initial negotiations for the EU’s multiannual budget.

The budget, which will apply from 2028 to 2034, is not expected to be finalized during the Danish presidency.

– I expect it to be a long discussion and also a difficult discussion. But this is the first discussion, and it is very natural that there are many disagreements to start with, says Marie Bjerre.

According to the minister, the goal of the presidency is to reach an agreement on the first steps of the negotiations during the autumn.

On Wednesday, the EU Commission presented its proposal for the next multiannual budget and requested the largest EU budget ever.

€2000 billion was requested. This corresponds to almost 15,000 billion kroner.

According to the Commission, the high budget is due to several challenges that are currently weighing on Europe. This includes the Russian war, high energy prices, and climate change.

For the budget to be adopted, all 27 EU countries and the EU Parliament must vote the proposal through.

The size of the budget has faced criticism from, among others, Germany.

The German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, criticized the Commission’s plan for a corporate tax for large companies on Thursday.

– I can rule out the possibility that Germany will go down that path. We will not do that, said Merz.

According to Marie Bjerre, there are good reasons for the EU’s budget to be stronger.

– We are in a time where Europe is challenged. We are challenged on our security, we are challenged on our competitiveness, we have an operational gap with China and the USA, she says.