EU Capitals Move to Spike Commission's New Corporate, Tobacco Levies

The Commission’s proposal to fund the next EU budget with corporate and tobacco levies is hanging by a thread, after a Commission presentation triggered pushback from EU countries.

In July, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen touted the “most ambitious ever” EU budget for 2028 to 2034, with €2 trillion to shape the bloc’s competitiveness and defence ambitions without completely neglecting farmers and regions that usually consume two-thirds of EU cash.

But nine EU countries are already running deficits high enough to warrant EU sanctions, and both the sheer size of the budget and any new income sources need unanimous support from the EU-27.

In a meeting with the Commission last Wednesday, EU countries may very well have already shot down two of the five new proposed income sources, expressing severe concerns on a €126 billion revenue plan.