Six European countries have jointly called for substantial reductions to the European Union's proposed budget for 2028-2034, according to a statement issued August 27, 2026.
Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, and Sweden said the Commission's nearly €2 trillion budget proposal must be reduced "by several hundred billion Euros in a balanced manner," with all budget categories contributing to the cuts.
The countries said the EU budget must address strategic priorities including security and defense, competitiveness, migration and sovereignty, but called for growth "only at a moderate pace." They argued that with member states implementing fiscal consolidation at home, the EU budget "cannot be an exception."
The statement also called for respect of "rule of law" as a condition for access to EU funding and opposed "new common borrowing" as a solution to budget challenges, saying structural reforms are needed instead.