A number of German politicians has reacted angrily to the news agency DPA recently revealing that Berlin contributed about $22.7 billion (19.2 billion euros) to the EU's budget in 2020, a hefty sum when compared to the financial injections made by other member states.
France and Italy reportedly pumped in $11 billion (9.3 billion euros) and $7.3 billion (6.2 billion euros), respectively, to the bloc's coffers last year, while Poland and Hungary were accused of misusing EU funds.
Daniel Freund, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Green Party of Germany, told reporters that "if we want to prevent Hungary and Poland from developing further into autocracies, the EU Commission must immediately stop the payment of EU money to Warsaw and Budapest".
He was echoed by EU Parliament Vice President Katarina Barley who called for funding to Hungary and Poland to be blocked as soon as possible.
"In both of these countries, we are dealing with deficits in terms of adherence to democratic principles", argued Barley, who is also a member of the German Social Democratic Party.
The same tone was struck by Nicolaus Fest, a German MEP from the party Alternative for Germany (AfD), who claimed "it is scandalous that once again Germany continues to pay substantially more into the EU budget than all other member states".
The shadow of the founder of the new German party 'Alternative fuer Deutschland' (Alternative for Germany), Bernd Lucke, is seen in on a logo during the party's founding convention in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, April 14, 2013
© AP Photo / Michael Sohn
He went further by insisting that "hardworking Germans deserve better than to have their money used to prop up weak and failing EU economies. Our money should be spent on national priorities, not bailing out the rest of Europe".
The standpoint was supported by Fest's AfD colleague Gunnar Beck who described Germany as a country that "has become the paymaster and social security office of the EU".
He remained downbeat about the German government's efforts "to impose a new catechism of political correctness on others", asserting that Berlin "neither has the financial prowess nor the moral authority to recreate Europe in its own deeply traumatised and self-flagellating image".
According to Beck, "the quicker the German people stop funding this EU racket the better".
Berlin May Pump More Into EU Coffers in Future
The remarks follow the German newspaper Die Welt citing unnamed sources as saying in June that Berlin's contribution to the EU's budget would rise by 42%, or 13 billion euros ($14.63 billion) annually in the coming years, a sum that will reportedly be based on proposals from Brussels.
The sources added that Brussels urged EU member states to pay around 1.075% of their gross domestic product (GDP) into the bloc's budget over the next seven years, which means that a total of 1.1 trillion euros ($1.2 trillion) may be injected into the budget.
Last year, Poland and Hungary vetoed a 1.8-trillion euro ($2.1-trillion) long-term EU budget, as well as a coronavirus recovery package because they opposed a budget law clause tying the availability of the money to the rule of law and respect for democratic standards in recipient countries.