In BrusselsReport.eu, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI), as part of the EPICENTER network, argued that the EU’s 2028–2034 budget could be cut to around €1.54 trillion while directing more resources towards competitiveness. LFMI expert Edas Matulaitis argued that new priorities such as competitiveness, security and defence do not automatically require a larger budget, and that the real question is which tasks genuinely need EU-level action. Drawing on EPICENTER’s alternative model, which keeps the core budget close to the historical benchmark of around 1% of GNI and comes to roughly €223 billion less than the Commission’s €1.763 trillion proposal, the article also calls for dropping the proposed Corporate Resource for Europe (CORE), rejecting a contribution based on tobacco excise revenues, and assessing other new revenue sources against their impact on competitiveness.

In BrusselsReport.eu, Garvan Walshe, drawing on his new EPICENTER paper “The Supply Side Energy Revolution”, argued that steady improvements in solar, wind and battery storage, driven by market competition, have brought enormous reductions in electricity generation costs. He set out three shifts: solar becoming by far the cheapest way to generate power, followed by wind; comparative advantage moving to the sunniest and windiest places; and economic decision-making turning from distributing high climate costs to a task more familiar to classical liberals. Walshe called for the energy transition to be reconfigured on liberal, free-market lines. He urged faster permitting for upgrading wind turbines and connecting new zero-carbon sources, and argued that grid operators must learn to manage decentralised networks.

In Delfi.lt, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LLRI), as part of the EPICENTER network, argued that much of the EU’s diagnosis on competitiveness is accurate, but that the answer is not necessarily a larger EU budget. Drawing on analysis by LLRI and its EPICENTER partners, the article shows that the 2028–2034 budget could be set at around €1.54 trillion. LLRI expert Edas Matulaitis stressed that the debate on competitiveness should not be reduced to how much more money to spend. He argued that new priorities such as competitiveness, security and defence do not automatically mean an ever-larger budget, and that barriers to business and investment must be removed first. The article adds that Lithuania’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU is an opportunity to help shape a budget policy that strengthens competitiveness.

In NEGlobal.eu, Emelie Franzén, Research Coordinator at EPICENTER, argued that Nordic Compass, an industry alliance chaired by former Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, is exploring a merger of the Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish stock exchanges into a single regional marketplace. This would be a first concrete step towards the capital markets integration Europe has debated since 2015. She stressed that Europe’s problem is not a shortage of capital but that it remains fragmented, nationally siloed and largely idle, and that no public budget, however generous, can substitute for private capital in delivering the competitiveness agenda. While a Nordic union would leave European companies still navigating 27 different rulebooks, Franzén argued that only a genuine European capital market matches the scale of the problem, and urged leaders to treat the Nordic model as a template for bottom-up action before the Nordics go it alone.

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.