Friedrich Mertz has repeatedly stated that his goal as Chancellor is to place the Germany as a leader in Europe. But less than three months after taking power, it becomes clear that one of his main strategies to do so is to oppose the EU – and in particular the ambitions of its president. Commission Ursula von der Layen.
This became apparent on Wednesday night (16.7.2025), when the Chancellor spokesman issued a statement rejecting the European Commission’s proposal (Commission) to extend its budget to 2 trillion. Euro ($ 2.3 trillion), just hours after von der Laien announced the plan in Brussels. Germany, as the largest EU funder, would be burdened with about 1/4 of these expenses.
Mertz was annoyed by the proposal, an official said, according to Bloomberg. The Chancellor was particularly unhappy with the move to impose taxes on businesses, which contradicts a recent promise he made to German companies to reduce their taxation.
While Mertz and von der Laen come from the same party, they never had a close relationship. During her political career in Berlin, von der Laien served at various ministerial offices by former Chancellor Angela Merkel, a long -term enemy of Mertz.
Berlin often reacts to the highest EU spending, but yesterday’s wording was unusually tough, reflecting Mertz’s growing frustration on how the EU Commission operates. It is mentioned in the announcement.
If it goes, the proposal will significantly increase the current budget of the 1.2 trillion block. euro, which will last until 2027.
“Debt increase was used in exceptional occasions, but these days the new regularity has become,” Merz told reporters in London today Thursday (17.7.2025). “The EU should now go beyond the funds it has at its disposal. This will mean a fierce budget battle for the next two years. “
Mertz was not the only one annoyed. Von der Lien disappointed many commissioners by not sharing the final details of the budget until the last minute, according to people who know the matter. Representatives of von der Laienne deny that the Member States were cut off from the process, saying they were informed of the planning but not the final amount.
Officials in Brussels would undoubtedly have realized that they were in danger of reactions from Berlin, as the German government made clear its red lines in a letter to Brussels last month.
In the letter, a copy of which Bloomberg News saw, officials emphasized that there was no room for budget growth. They also rejected the continuation of the EU’s joint lending plan for the era of the pandemic, which means that any additional EU expenditure on new projects should be funded through cuts to other budgets, according to a government official in Berlin.
EU Member States are now beginning the long negotiation process on the budget proposal. In a sign of what the political dividing lines may be, many have challenged the amount of 2 trillion euros as too high and raised an issue with a new process of unlocking capital in a preliminary debate on Wednesday.
Several envoys have also criticized the proposal for the abolition of so -called discounts – returns receiving countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden because they are inconvenience to a disproportionately large proportion of the EU’s overall budget.