Die politische Ökonomie der Finanzierung des EU Haushalts

[Autom. eng. transl.] This paper aims to contribute to the debate on reforming the EU budget from a specific political-economic perspective. We argue that the current discussion does not address the very essence of the problem and that, in reality, it is about the nature of the European Union. Specifically, the question arises as to whether the European Union is just an association of sovereign states or a real federation that directly influences the living conditions of European citizens, who should therefore have a right of representation on issues that affect the EU budget. Furthermore, we argue that the legitimacy crisis that the European Union is currently facing is the main reason for reforming the current system and that all proposed reforms should be discussed in terms of their contribution to solving this problem. From a dynamic perspective, it is central to the question of how an EU funding reform affects the negotiating positions of individual institutions in order to understand the interplay of the forces acting on them and to assess the likelihood that a reform will be implemented.