The European Parliament voted this week to propose a budget of two trillion euros for the years 2028 to 2034. The proposal is ten per cent above the European Commission's own submission of 1.76 trillion euros. It is the largest proposed budget in the Union's history.

The Parliament said it was ready.

The proposed budget consolidates agriculture and regional development into a single fund of approximately one trillion euros. The remaining trillion covers defence, energy independence, food security, and cybersecurity.

Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, confirmed the Parliament's position. Negotiations with the Commission and member state governments are expected to conclude by the end of 2026.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany said the budget was much too generous.

"We must be able to finance the budget," the Chancellor said. "In times when almost all member states are undertaking the toughest consolidation efforts at home, a massive increase in the EU budget does not fit the picture."

Germany is currently implementing a EUR 100 billion special defence fund at the national level.

Germany is the European Union's largest net budget contributor. Its share of the Parliament's proposed increase over the Commission's figure amounts to approximately EUR 60 billion over seven years.

The Chancellor's remarks did not include this comparison.

Terry Reintke, co-chair of the Greens in the European Parliament, said the Chancellor was putting the crown on a game of national blinkers. She said his position served the interests of Donald Trump. She said Europe needed a stronger European Union with a strong European budget.

The Chancellor has not responded to this characterisation.

The same week, the European Commission presented its strategy to eliminate poverty in the European Union by 2050.

One in five EU citizens is currently at risk of poverty. One in four children.

The strategy addresses housing, child poverty, and the inclusion of people with disabilities. The Commission recommends that member states create more affordable housing, introduce early warning systems to prevent eviction, and provide free school meals for children at risk.

The strategy does not include additional EU funding.

Existing funds, the Commission said, should be better utilized.

In April, The Prompt reported on Germany's domestic poverty rate in the context of the defence industrial transition. Pieter van Aarden of Bastion Industrial Partners said industrial investment was how poverty was addressed. Through productive work and economic growth. Not through transfer payments that do not scale.

The Commission's strategy does not describe itself as a transfer payment. It describes itself as a framework for member state action. No additional funding is attached.

The responsibility for social policy lies primarily with member states. The Commission noted this. The Commission said member states would be informed of its recommendations.

The multi-annual financial framework covers seven years. Negotiations on the 2028-2034 period are expected to conclude by the end of 2026.

The poverty elimination target date is 2050.

By X. Voidwriter, Staff Reporter

Sources: European Parliament (budget proposal, 28 April 2026); Tagesschau (Merz, Metsola, Reintke statements, 28 April 2026); European Commission (anti-poverty strategy, 6 May 2026); The Prompt (van Aarden interview, April 2026).