"I am against the introduction of a European tax," stated Merkel yesterday (2 November), according to AFP news agency.
The German chancellor was speaking in Brussels after a meeting with Belgium's caretaker premier Yves Leterme, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
The Commission recently presented a number of options to fuel the EU's future budget, which is currently overwhelmingly funded by direct contributions from the member states.
An EU value-added tax (VAT), a tax on air transport or a share of new financial, corporate or energy taxes are among the proposals put forward by Brussels as a way to decrease its dependence on national contributions.
With national governments having to make big public spending cuts, the Commission hopes these options will be considered when negotiations open next year on the EU's long-term budget for 2014-2020.
Currently, three quarters of the EU's budget comes directly from national governments. 12% comes from import duties from non-EU countries and the remaining 11% is a fixed percentage of each member state's VAT income.
However, Merkel's hostility to a 'European tax' adds to opposition from other member states, such as France and the UK. The long-term budget swept onto the agenda at last week's EU summit, where UK Prime Minister David Cameron secured broad support for a lean plan.
"Heads of state or government stressed that, at the same time as fiscal discipline is reinforced in the European Union, it is essential that the EU budget and the forthcoming [long-term budget] reflect the consolidation efforts being made by member states," stated the summit's conclusions.
However, the European Commission has a powerful ally in the European Parliament, which will negotiate the 2014-2020 budget together with member states.
Joseph Daul MEP, chairman of the centre-right European People's Party – the largest group in the Parliament – stressed that the governments can "even make savings and lower their contributions to the Community budget, if they accept that Europe changes the financial system, which is today obsolete, and benefits from its own resources".
