“Reduction of national contribution and ‘no’ to common debt”, Finland against the 2028-2034 budget

Brussels – The proposal for a new multiannual budget (MFF 2028-2024) does not please Finland, which is already putting a tombstone on what the European Commission has put on the table and on an already uphill negotiation. “The contribution demanded by the Commission from the member states in its MFF proposal is too high and we have to reduce it, and Finland rejects any budget that has common debt instruments in it,” Riikka Purra, Helsinki’s Finance Minister, cut short as she arrived for the Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg. A few, but peremptory words, which are enough to complicate even more a negotiation that is, in any case, compromised. 

The idea for the new seven-year budget unveiled in July by the EU executive has already been rejected by the European Parliament, where the representatives of the different groups called it “a joke.” The proposed two trillion or so budget requires an increase in national contributions—from 1.1 per cent to 1.26 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI)—and is not acceptable to the Scandinavian republic, which is therefore prepared to stand in the way.

 On the day when the European Court of Auditors warns about the EU debt problem and the need to devise multi-year budgets without loans that have to be repaid, Finland’s position gains even more weight and prominence in the never-easy debate on the common budget. The so-called “frugal”, spending-conscious countries, eager for austerity and the lowest possible national contribution to the budget, after all, turn up whenever there is a discussion about money. This club includes Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden. Over time, and depending on the dossier, Finland and the Baltic States have also joined. The position of the Finnish Finance Minister, therefore, is not surprising, given all twelve-star premises and traditions. It certainly makes the political negotiations already all uphill.