Germany says that the President of the European Commission is “losing touch with reality”

Germany criticized European Council President Antonio Costa on Tuesday amid difficult negotiations over the European Union’s future seven-year multiannual budget. German representative Gunther Krichbaum said, ahead of the meeting of EU affairs ministers in Brussels, that Costa’s recent statements about the budget “were not particularly helpful” and called for greater realism in the discussions.

In an interview with POLITICO in Dublin, following his tour of European capitals, Costa argued that introducing new EU-level taxes, known as “own resources,” is necessary to avoid significant spending cuts. The European Commission’s proposal provides for a budget of nearly €2 trillion, but it is opposed by several national governments.

Germany and its allies in Northern Europe, the EU’s main net contributors, are calling for the total to be reduced by hundreds of billions of euros. These countries believe that new European taxes cannot replace spending cuts. Krichbaum said national budgets are under enormous pressure and that resources are not unlimited.

The negotiations are currently being coordinated by the Irish presidency of the Council of the EU. Ireland is due to present a new negotiating document, the “negobox,” at the beginning of October and has asked ministers to indicate the areas in which they are willing to accept compromises. After the October European Council meeting, Antonio Costa will take over coordination of the negotiations, and EU leaders will formulate their position on the Irish proposal.