The Commission proposes new entries for 58.2 billion in the 2028-2035 budget. To pay will be citizens and companies, from all over Europe
A new Europe -tailor Europe, but at our expense. The project of the Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen for the EU budget 2028-2035 is clear: new income for over 58.2 billion euros. An imposing figure, to be obtained through a mix of old and new taxes, with a direct impact on the habits of citizens and the competitiveness of European companies. And Italy, once again, risks being among the most affected countries.
The mechanism is known, but the step this time is longer: not only national contributions, but new sources of entry that cut sensitive sectors such as tobacco, electronic products and large companies transversely. The goal? Brain the Brussels speakers and strengthen the new architecture of the multi -year budget, while the EU governance goes more and more towards a centralized control of resources.
The account pays the consumers
The most symbolic voice – and politically explosive – concerns the tobacco tax. A politically sensitive voice that Brussels claims as a health measure, but that hides a ruthless tax goal. In the intentions of the Commission, minimal excise duties should increase by +139% for cigarettes, +258% for tobacco to be rolled, +1,090% for cigars and cigars. With a direct consequence: a 5 euro package could cost over 6.
And for the first time, electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco will also end up under excise tax, with rates that reach up to 0.36 euros per milliliter. Brussels says he wants to “discouraging smoking”, but for Italian tobacconists it is “a wicked measure that will promote only the smuggling”.
Green tax or hidden tax?
Smoking is not enough. The other symbol tax is that on e-waste, electronic waste. The commission promises that it will serve to encourage recycling, but in substance it is 15 billion to be obtained by taxing what is not recovered. The producers will pay it, which, however, – needless to hide it – will transfer the costs to end consumers.
Then there are the big businesses. Those with a net turnover above 100 million euros per year will have to pay a new “resource of their own” (the so -called core), equal to 6.8 billion. It doesn’t matter where they are the seat: if they operate in Europe, they pay. A blow that will penalize above all the medium-large Italian companies, often more vulnerable than the competitors of northern Europe.
Behind the numbers, the centralist direction of Brussels
To make everything even more surreal is the context. Brussels also offers a single monitoring portal – the single gateway – where everything will be measured, classified, filtered: from the performance of the programs to respect for gender equality. Each project will have a gender score from 0 to 2.
Under the flag of transparency, Europe is building a sophisticated and centralized bureaucratic machine, which risks transforming into a tool of control and political conditioning. A structure that strengthens Brussels and empties national and regional authorities, with the risk – reported by the EU Parliament itself – to weaken the internal cohesion of the Union.
An ambitious balance, perhaps too much
The balance is proposed as the most ambitious ever seen: 131 billion for defense and space, 100 billion for Ukraine, 300 billion for agriculture, 451 for competitiveness. With a strategic novelty: the inclusion of nuclear fission between European energy priorities, a sign of a change of pace in the green transition.
EU loans are also planned up to 150 billion for common projects, guaranteed directly by the European budget. But while the commission appears, the member countries are divided. The European Parliament speaks of an “insufficient and not very ambitious” budget. Holland defines it as “too high”.
The EU project 2028-2035 is everything except neutral. It is the political act with which the Commission von der Leyen, at the end of its mandate, tries to centralize revenue and control. A choice that moves resources, power and legitimacy from the bottom up, in a historical moment in which the Member States ask for more autonomy and more protection.
Italy – by economic, debt, and productive profile – risks being among the most penalized countries, paying more and receiving less. Brussels promises investments, but asks for new taxes in return. And the right to decide how, where and for whom to spend them. All this, in the name of Europe and with the promise that we will all be stronger. But to read well, it would seem that to be stronger, this time, it will be only the commission.
