EPICENTER

In Forsal.pl, Marek Tatała, CEO of the Economic Freedom Foundation and part of the EPICENTER network, argued that Poland should reject TEDOR, the Commission’s proposed new EU own resource based on tobacco excise duties. The Commission estimates it would raise more than €11 billion a year, which would mean several billion złoty less for Poland’s national budget. He noted that 439 MEPs voted against the Commission’s proposal to revise the Tobacco Excise Directive and called for its withdrawal. He warned that excessive tax rises risk pushing consumers towards the black market, as Australia’s experience shows. Rather than creating new revenue sources, Tatała argued, the EU should rationalise spending, pointing to EPICENTER’s Alternative EU Budget, which focuses on genuine European public goods such as security, border protection, cross-border infrastructure, innovation and the Single Market.

EPICENTER’s report An Alternative EU Budget, by Christian Nasulea, was included in the European Parliament’s July 2026 briefing “Background information on the post-2027 MFF”, prepared for the Committee on Budgets (BUDG). The monthly digest is produced by the Budgetary Support Unit of DG BUDG and the European Parliamentary Research Service to keep MEPs on the Committee on Budgets informed about the debate on the next Multiannual Financial Framework. It summarises the report as examining whether the EU budget remains aligned with its original purpose of supporting the Single Market and addressing genuinely cross-border challenges, assessing spending and revenue proposals against subsidiarity, proportionality, fiscal restraint and democratic accountability.

In BrusselsMorning.com, Marek Tatala, CEO of the Economic Freedom Foundation and part of the Epicenter network, argued that Ireland’s EU Council Presidency motto “Strength with unity” is insufficient without sustainable economic growth. Tatala stressed that competitiveness underpins prosperity, security and democratic values, calling for urgent implementation of the Draghi and Letta recommendations, a completed Single Market, a regulatory brake, and a competitiveness test for every new EU proposal. The article endorses Epicenter’s Alternative EU Budget, which prioritises genuine European public goods over a simply larger budget and rejects additional own resources that would raise taxes on citizens and businesses.

In BrusselsReport.eu, Adam Bartha, Director of EPICENTER, argued that Ireland’s Council Presidency is right to put competitiveness first, and that Ireland can draw on its own record of a simple regulatory framework, a low and stable corporate tax rate, and public spending and debt kept firmly under control. He urged the Presidency to push for proportionality and necessity tests on digital files rather than another procedural tidy-up, to secure a Council position on the savings and investments union before December, and to close negotiations on EU Inc, the proposed 28th company-law regime. On the 2028–2034 MFF, Bartha pointed to EPICENTER’s Alternative EU Budget, which shows the EU can fund every core Single Market function for around 1% of national income, roughly €1.54 trillion, without new taxes.

In G4Media.ro, Petar Ganev from the Institute for Market Economics (IME), as part of the Epicenter network, argued that the debate on competitiveness extends far beyond the size of the EU budget. Speaking at the Green Transition Forum 2026 on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–2034, Ganev noted that while Bulgaria supports stronger cohesion funding as a net beneficiary, a larger EU budget risks new own resources that could harm national competitiveness. He stressed that Europe’s competitiveness depends primarily on the effective functioning of the Single Market, reducing bureaucracy and excessive regulation, and facilitating the fundamental freedoms of the internal market, rather than simply increasing the overall budget.