Germany Seeks to Cap EU Budget at 1 Percent of GDP Alarming Message Germany Seeks to Limit EU Budget Contribution

''Germany's permanent representative to the EU made an unpopular announcement to his counterparts on Monday in the European Council building. His country, said top diplomate Michael Clauss, does not want the EU budget to grow beyond 1 percent of gross domestic product in the coming years.

For some of the diplomats present, it was an alarming signal. It means that Germany isn't prepared to increases its contributions to the EU over the course of the next multi-year budget, a message that contradicts what Berlin was saying just a year and a half ago. Back then, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) agreed on a coalition deal with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) that included the generous pledge: "We are prepared for Germany to make higher contributions to the EU budget." But because clouds seem to be gathering on the economic horizon, German conservatives have agreed with the SPD to establish a 1 percent limit, even if it puts the EU in a tough spot..''

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