Commission toys with massive €522 billion competitiveness budget

The European Commission is considering a huge new fund to boost Europe's economy worth up to €522 billion between 2028 and 2034, according to a document seen by Euractiv.

On Wednesday the Commission is expected to present its proposal for the next seven-year budget cycle.

The €522 billion would be split between a research programme, currently at €96 billion, and various smaller programmes not likely surpassing €50 billion. That leaves room for a possible European Competitiveness Fund of over €300 billion, unheard of in the EU.

The document – which may change in last-minute negotiations overnight – suggests that the total size of the budget will be €1.717 trillion, or 1.23% of gross national income, the total income earned by a country's population and businesses.

That is €369 billion more than a comparable number for the previous budget, but around €200 billion would likely go to paying back the EU's pandemic recovery fund loans.

The Commission typically proposes a higher figure, which is then whittled down by spendthrift EU countries in years of painstaking negotiations. During the last cycle of negotiations that began in 2018, the Commission proposed 1.11% GNI and the final agreement landed at 1.05% of GNI in comparable terms.

According to the leaked document, the budget proposal would pull all the EU's expenditure into just four pots. Most of the traditional spending would be subsumed into a fund called "Europe's social model and quality of life," worth €947 billion over seven years.

The Global Europe fund, which controversially may also include development aid, would be worth €190 billion, and a budget for administration would be €107 billion.

Nikolaus J. Kurmayer contributed reporting.