Ursula von der Leyen’s plan for the biggest EU budget sparked an uproar within the European Commission, with colleagues warning that the president’s ultra-centralized style has already compromised the 2 TN cash call.
Prepared for months and largely kept secret from the team of commissioners of Von Der Leyen, the 2028-2034 budget plan project caused rare internal reverses which forced significant concessions in the hours preceding the publication.
The revolt underlined the long -term resentment to its approach to “rubber stamp” towards the commission after years of fortified decision -making which, according to criticism, has made Brussels inflexible and inclined to bad.
“I have never seen it so bad,” said a main diplomat from a member state of the EU who worked on the last three budgetary negotiations. “No one knew what they got or what they paid until the last minute.”
The expense plan of € 2 TN €, which will be funded by national capitals and the new taxes collected directly by the Commission of Business, Tobacco and other articles, will replace the existing budget of 1.2 TN in 2028.
Chaotic negotiations in the background and the numerous objections of the commissioners on everything, from the scale of new taxes to the spending levels for the poorest regions, have prepared the ground for brutal interviews with the European capitals, said officials. The EU budget, one of the most complex and complex negotiations in Brussels, requires unanimous support for 27 Member States.
“If it is so bad inside the commission, which knows how bad it will be when the real negotiations with the Member States begin,” said a second EU diplomat.
A meeting of the chiefs’ chiefs of commissioners – known as Hebdo – to debate the final proposal began on Monday evening and ended just before noon on Wednesday.
The talks were suddenly postponed and restarted in the middle of the discussion on Tuesday, according to two people present, before continuing until almost 2 a.m. and restarting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday.
“It is not surprising that a weekly budget lasts more than 15 hours. What is surprising is that it is [the evening before adoption]”Said a second EU official.” Frustration is shared at all levels of the Commission. »»
On the eve of the proposal, the budget commissioner of Von Der Leyen, Piotr Serafin, who is responsible for selling the budget considerably extended to the EU capitals, had “no idea” of the complex formula which would determine how each country would receive, according to a person involved in the discussions.
Despite the other commissioners who called on an advanced opinion of the breakdown of the budget, they only received the last figures for their funding in the minutes of a meeting planned to sign it. This meeting started four hours later than expected.
A commissioner asked Von der Leyen at the meeting: “Why do we get a debriefing?” According to a third EU official.
“They were mainly asked to make the rubber this thing … This is not how you direct the commission,” said a fourth EU official.
While the opposition went up in the week before the proposal, Von Der Leyen made several concessions. These included the ringfencing of 5 billion euros in direct subsidies to farmers and fishermen, by restoring a social spending fund, maintaining specific support for the poorest regions and doubling the threshold of a new corporate tax with a turnover of more than 100 million euros.
Von Der Leyen rejected criticism of his management style: “I spoke to each commissioner after the next one,” she told journalists after the budget was revealed. “There was a lot of controversy … Not everyone was satisfied.”
“The last four weekends, they all worked … After midnight,” said Von Der Leyen about senior EU officials. “It is a marathon to get there because it is a huge budget … It is normal that in the end there is a time of crisis.”
She added: “There is a strong support. The collegial decision is made.”
The budget will take up to two years to negotiate, Von Der Leyen told journalists after the publication of the proposal.
The Commission said that despite the size of the budget size, contributions from the Member States would not increase. Instead, the deficit will be offset by “own resources” or new EU revolving worth around 400 billion euros.
These include taxes on large companies, electronic waste, costs on third countries and increases in tobacco taxes, as well as increases in existing income sources such as customs of custom and VAT.
Although this would in theory increase around 58 billion euros in annual EU income, according to the EU executive, it would still not cover the full increase in the budget size.
“They live in their own world,” said a Treasury official in a Member State.
The frustrations concerning the centralized style of von der Leyen have long simmered, both within the team of commissioners and civil servants of the body.
The senior officials say that Von der Leyen and Björn Seibert, his powerful chief of staff, have further reduced the circle of decision-making in their second mandate. Dissident votes from the first five -year term of Von der Leyen, such as Thierry Breton from France and Margrethe Vestager from Denmark, did not return for his second pass.
Despite the troubles within his commission, only Olivér Várhelyi of Hungary officially registered his dissent at the meeting on Wednesday to approve the budget, according to people informed of the discussion.
“In order to do something, you need a traction with Björn,” said a fifth EU official. “But it is not a way to direct a European commission.”
