German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged the European Union on Thursday to reform its budget to include more investments and reduce subsidies, but rejected any joint borrowing by EU nations to do so.
The 27 EU nations are wrangling over the bloc’s 2028-2034 budget, with so-called frugal nations like Germany and the Netherlands opposing a big increase in spending proposed by the bloc’s executive Commission.
“We cannot meet the challenges of the 21st century with a 20th-century budget,” the conservative leader declared in Aachen, Germany, in a speech at the ceremony awarding the Charlemagne Prize to former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi.
In a hard-hitting report on European competitiveness in 2024, Draghi called for a fundamental change of course by the bloc to stay in the race against the United States and China, notably through joint investments.
Merz supported Draghi’s call, criticising the fact that the EU’s budget “has remained, in its content and…
