The European Union's goals of climate neutrality, resilience and competitiveness could be jeopardised by insufficient funding for climate and biodiversity protection in the European proposal for the next budget cycle, several European environmental campaign groups say. The German government has rejected an increase in the EU budget. Its priorities are defence and security.

The European Commission's proposal for the long-term budget has drawn criticism from a number of environmental and climate campaign groups. In the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the EC proposed raising the bloc's budget to almost two trillion euros for the period from 2028 to 2034, of which 35% would go to “programmes and measures in the field of climate policy and environmental objectives”.

“The current proposal does not increase the funding available for climate and environmental objectives,” writes CAN Europe. Although the proposal speaks of around 700 billion euros (a huge sum) earmarked for these measures, this is a reduction compared with the current European Union budget, according to calculations by the non-governmental organisation CAN Europe.

“At least 50% of the Multiannual Financial Framework budget should be allocated to climate and environmental protection,” says the German Nature Conservation Ring (DNR) association. “Anyone who wants to secure Europe's future must take climate and nature protection seriously as a significant business factor and include it in the list of budget priorities,” DNR executive director Florian Schöne stressed.

Farm subsidy reform said to be a “step backwards”

The EC's proposal to reform subsidies for farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy, which determines how much EU money goes to agricultural subsidies, has of course drawn criticism from the climate campaign group Environmental Action Germany (DUH), which called the proposed reform a “major step backwards” and warned that it would allow countries to “grant subsidies without clear public (?) interest criteria”.

WWF Germany, for its part, has expressed “deep regret” that the LIFE programme – the only European Union funding instrument devoted solely to climate and the environment – will be folded into a new European Competitiveness Fund whose aim is to support industrial policy. “Healthy ecosystems are the foundation of a functioning economy and society,” said the organisation's policy head Matthias Meissner. “Instead of strengthening nature protection, it is being pushed into the background.”

CAN Europe director Chiara Martinelli said: “Every budget decision up to 2040 is vital for our planet. Despite some positive elements, the EC's proposal does not ensure that the European Union's next long-term budget will do enough to unlock the additional investment needed to meet more ambitious climate targets and to close the biodiversity spending gap.”

The German government rejects an increase in the European Union budget

The EC's proposal marks the start of a two-year process to reach agreement on the European Union's future budget and revenue system. Before adoption it will be debated and negotiated in the European Parliament and among the member states.

The German government has announced that it will not accept the EU budget proposal: “A general increase in the European Union budget is not justified at a time when member states are taking considerable steps to consolidate their national budgets.” Although Germany is the largest contributor to European Union funding, in recent years the country has seen fierce debate about public finances and the limit on new state borrowing. After the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government, the government of the new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, immediately reformed part of the debt rules to allow defence spending to rise. It also set up a special fund of 500 billion euros outside the regular budget to finance infrastructure and climate-neutrality projects over the coming decade.

The European budget is made up of contributions from the member states, together with revenue from the emissions trading system (ETS) and, in future, revenue from the so-called CO₂ border adjustment mechanism (CBAM).

It has to be stressed, however, that the safety of citizens and the defence of nations must be an absolute priority in the European Union. Without it there will be no point in climate questions, environmental protection or anything else...