Ursula von der Leyen is battling a revolt from EU members states after demanding more funding at the European Council Summit yesterday.
The European Commission has asked for member states to contribute an additional €66 billion to the EU’s budget in order to tackle the growing issues facing the bloc.
But member states, including powerful Germany, have pushed back, demanding she reallocate funding from the existing budget.
The Commission is hoping to get an agreement on the revised budget by the start of December – the last date available to secure a deal on the annual 2024 budget.
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But after asking for more money yesterday at the European Council summit, the EU chief left the stage without accepting any questions.
She said the bloc was “meeting today in times of upheaval”.
Referring to the war in Ukraine and the growing number of migrants coming to the EU, she added: “The EU needs to react and act united and resolute.”
“All of this needs funding — and this is why I have proposed a revision of the EU budget, to be able to fund these very important tasks”.
Scholz expressed opposition to the increase in funding, saying new financial needs should be addressed by reallocating funds from less pressing areas in order to avoid member states paying more.
He said: “Even though time has already advanced, we are still at the very beginning [of the budget discussions]. The positions that have been formulated there are not yet all congruent.”
The prominent EU figure added: “I am convinced that the possibilities offered by reprioritizing spending programs from the European budget have not yet been exhausted.”
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte agreed, saying the money should be found through “reprioritizing”.
He said that even frugal countries like the Netherlands “understand that new money is needed” in the budget to keep up financial support for Ukraine.
Von der Leyen said the bloc was ‘meeting today in times of upheaval’
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But he added: “In terms of all these other requests for fresh money, our position — and of many colleagues — is to reprioritize.
“And if you then find money, the priority should be to spend it on migration.”
Rutte warned that “more countries than in 2020”, which was the last time the EU discussed its budget, were in favour of a more frugal position.
