The new proposal from the Permanent Council President represents a reduction of just over SEK 25 billion compared to the last Commission proposal from May. $ 1,074 billion is the sum for which Michel is stuck.

- I want a better EU. It is our duty to all EU citizens everywhere, ”explains Charles Michel at a press conference in Brussels.

As regards loans and grants in the European Commission's corona support, Michel, as expected, does not change the proposal to add € 500 billion in grants and 250 billion in loans. But he is clear that 70 percent of the support will be distributed over the next two years and 30 percent from 2023 onwards.

Sweden wants everything to be a loan and the distribution is linked much more to the current crisis, not other factors.

Continued discount

At the same time, the President-in-Office sees ahead three new direct revenues to the EU: a plastic tax, a boundary fee linked to climate change and a digital tax on large network giants.

Though he just wants to call it fees.

"I am not proposing any tax," emphasizes Michel.

Taxes or fees at EU level are strongly disapproved by many countries, not least Sweden. Sweden's EU Minister Hans Dahlgren notes that Michel in his proposal also reasoned about a possible tax on financial transactions.

"That's not good," he says.

The proposal also includes, as expected, retained "discounts" on the EU fee for Sweden, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria. The five countries pay significantly more to the EU than they think they will get back and have clearly stated that they do not accept delayed discounts.

For Swedish, according to Michael's proposal, this amounts to EUR 798 million per year, corresponding to SEK 8.3 billion.

- It will not be enough to keep the fee at the same level as now, says Hans Dahlgren, who still sees it as positive that the discount is included.

Hear SVT's interview with EU Minister Hans Dahlgren in the clip above