Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) would seek a smaller European Union budget and threaten cuts to Germany’s contributions under a policy plan reported by Politico to curb the bloc’s institutions.
The European Commission has proposed nearly €2 trillion in EU spending for 2028-34, compared with about €1.2 trillion for 2021-27.
Under the AfD plan described by Politico, national legislatures would select members of the European Parliament, ending direct elections for those seats. The proposal would narrow the Commission’s work to administration and assign the European Court of Justice’s role to an arbitration tribunal.
The party would seek exemptions for Germany from EU rules on migration and social policy. Agriculture and financial policy are other areas in which it may pursue opt-outs, Deutsche Welle reported in its account of the Politico story.
The reported plan would initially keep Germany in the EU and eurozone. If the AfD failed to secure its proposed reforms, it would seek a German referendum on EU membership. DW said such a vote would require changing Germany’s Basic Law and reported that an amendment would need two-thirds support in both the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
The AfD was founded in 2013 amid opposition to euro bailouts and deeper European integration, DW noted. The party hopes to pursue its EU policies in 2029, when German and European elections are due. DW said recent German federal election surveys placed the AfD first, but it would need a coalition partner to govern. The Christian Democratic Union has refused to work with it.
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel is expected to present the policy at the European Parliament on Wednesday.
