"The EU Budget Needs a Change of Perspective"

On 14 October 2026, Margit Schratzenstaller discussed the question of how much money Europe needs at the Europa Club Wien of the Austrian Society for European Politics (ÖGfE). She was joined on the panel by Mario Holzner, Executive Director of wiiw. ÖGfE President Wilhelm Molterer welcomed the guests, and Secretary General Paul Schmidt moderated the discussion. The event took place one day before the European Council meeting.

In her guest commentary in "Die Presse", Schratzenstaller sets out her arguments in detail. In July 2025, the European Commission proposed just under 2 trillion €, or 1.26 percent of gross national income. Under pressure from the net contributors, the Irish Council Presidency has cut this framework to 1.16 percent. After deducting repayments for NextGenerationEU, only 1.05 percent would remain for all other tasks, which is less than in the current budget. The cuts would fall mainly on competitiveness, security and international cooperation, while agricultural and cohesion policy would remain largely untouched.

Schratzenstaller calls for a change of perspective. The structure of spending should be geared towards future challenges. New own resources, for example from the EU Emissions Trading System and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, could weaken the logic of net balances. She adds that too little attention is paid to the cost of Europe not acting together enough.