National budgets of the EU Member States have grown by 68% in absolute terms over the last seven years.
58% confidence
EconomyEuropean Union
Omissions
The exact seven-year growth rate cited by the MEP (68%) does not appear in any Eurostat, national statistics office or independent source found; it is repeated only in EP coverage and news articles that echo the MEP's own statement.
Eurostat publishes EU general government total expenditure as a single aggregate; growth over a ten-year window (2015–2025) is about 57% (€3,373 billion increase on a ~€5,943 billion base), which is a valid upper bound for any shorter seven-year window and is well below 68%.
'National budgets' is approximated here by EU general government total expenditure (all sub-sectors combined), which is the closest published aggregate to the concept invoked.
The Eurostat 'Government finance statistics' page including 2025 data was published after the session date; however, the data it contains describes periods up to 2025 that the MEP could have known, so it is admissible. Its exact publication date could not be confirmed from the search results.
Sources
PrimaryEurostat – Statistics Explained: Government finance statistics"EU general government expenditure increased overall by €3 373 billion between 2015 and 2025... Between 2024 and 2025, EU government total expenditure increased by €461 billion... In 2025, government expenditure in the euro area was equivalent to 49.8% of GDP and government revenue to 46.9% of GDP. The figures for the EU were 49.5% and 46.4%, respectively."
PrimaryEurostat – Statistics Explained: Government expenditure by function (COFOG)"In 2024, the general government total expenditure to GDP ratio... the increase... was due to an increase in total expenditure by €413 billion (€8 855 billion in 2024 compared with €8 442 billion in 2023), a growth of 4.9%..."