go to the original language article
Brussels – Spain has requested this Monday to double the EU’s multiannual budget for the period 2028-2034 to 2% of the EU’s annual GDP from the current 1%, which it sees as “insufficient,” in order to increase defense spending in response to the challenge of maintaining aid to Ukraine against the Kremlin’s war of aggression and the uncertainty generated by Trump’s return to the White House.
The government has thus anticipated the launch of the timetable for the review of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) that is expected to be unveiled by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, this Wednesday with the aim of presenting a legislative proposal in the summer.
In its plan, which has been accessed by Europa Press, Spain emphasizes that the new MFF “must support European reindustrialization and innovation, the triple ecological, digital and social transition, and the deployment of transport and energy infrastructures and interconnections, while responding to the growing needs of security and defense and ensuring socioeconomic convergence.”
To ensure that the EU’s accounts are “larger and bolder,” the Spanish delegation proposes doubling the current budget to 2% of the EU’s annual GDP with 50% of the budget allocated to the green transition compared to the current 30%.
Spain also supports the creation of new genuine resources for the EU “that do not detract from the current revenues of the Member States, but rather increase the capacity and financial autonomy of the EU itself, without adding complexity to the system.”
In this regard, it points out that “these new genuine resources should make feasible an increase in the EU budget while preserving and at the same time promoting a greater financing capacity of the EU,” so the use of revenues from the emissions trading scheme should be reserved for decarbonization purposes within the Innovation Fund.
Furthermore, under the maxim that “common challenges require European solutions,” despite “fiscal consolidation pressures.”
In this sense, it highlights that “investments in the security and defense sector, even through jointly issued debt, will be decisive both to ensure Europe’s security and its industrial and technological leadership.” (February 10)