The European Union has been tipped to introduce more bloc-wide taxes as Brussels has been told it needs more of its own money, the Belgian Prime Minister has said.
Alexander De Croo has said the EU is facing questions about money amid international conflicts and global issues.
De Croo, whose country took the helm of the Council of the EU on January 1, has left the door open for more bloc-wide taxes to fill the EU’s €1.2trillion budget for 2021-2027.
He told Politico: “With every major challenge we face, the European population, even the more Euroskeptic ones, look to Europe to solve those challenges because countries alone cannot do it.
“If you want to answer those calls, you’re going to have to rearrange your priorities, which for us inevitably leads to a discussion: Where does the money come from?”
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo pictured during a plenary session of the Chamber at the Federal Parliament in Brussels on Thursday 21 December 2023.
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It comes as EU leaders are set to negotiate a review of the EU’s 2021-2027 budget.
Member states have previously contested the European Commission’s request for €66billion in extra money.
The extra money aimed to cover unforeseen expenses such as higher borrowing costs on the bloc’s post-pandemic cash, while any money used in the new negotiations would include an aid budget for Ukraine.
Funding was trimmed to €21billion to get member countries on board during the last European Council meeting in December.
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The Belgian PM avoided specifying where the extra revenue would come from, but added that most other EU leaders find it difficult to raise their own national contributions.
He conceded that asking Europe to pay more while refusing to do so themselves poses a dilemma.
De Croo said: “If we want to have a good discussion, I don’t want to comment too much on that.”
He added that how the EU spends money is another issue.
The two largest pots of EU money currently go to agriculture and to supporting member countries with lower GDP per capita, known as the Cohesion Fund.
He said: “Agriculture and cohesion are not going to disappear, but…other things will have to be added, that it is inevitable.
“On the next budget you will have the discussion: What are the European priorities?”
An EU official told POLITICO: “Many frugal countries would pay a lower share of EU taxes, as they emit less carbon. But theirs is a philosophical issue: They don’t want the EU to levy taxes.”
