Greece has proposed a new source of European Union funding that could raise between €12 billion and €15 billion by linking future auctions of 6G mobile frequencies to strategic technology investment across the bloc.

Under the plan, reported by Reuters, member states would create a “European Spectrum Union”, allowing part of the revenue they collect from licensing 6G spectrum to be pooled at European level. The proposal was drawn up under Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Greece’s Minister of National Economy and Finance and President of the Eurogroup, the forum of eurozone finance ministers, and was presented to EU ministers on Tuesday.

The document puts the potential initial scale of the scheme at roughly €12 billion to €15 billion. It stresses, however, that the figure is a planning assumption rather than an official valuation or forecast, and excludes any possible future revenue from selected 5G rights.

How the spectrum union would work

Member states would continue to hold spectrum auctions nationally, but a share of future proceeds would flow into a common European mechanism. The money could fund investment in strategic technologies and digital infrastructure, while reducing the need to find additional resources from the EU budget.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Chatzivasileiou presented the proposal at the General Affairs Council in Brussels on 22 September, during talks on new “own resources”, the revenue streams that feed directly into the EU budget.

Pierrakakis first floated the idea in July, arguing that the debate should move from redistributing EU resources to creating new ones, with central EU management of 5G and 6G spectrum as a concrete example.

Tough negotiations over a €2 trillion budget

The initiative comes amid difficult negotiations over the EU’s next long-term budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028 to 2034, which the European Commission has proposed at €2 trillion.

Governments are being asked to finance new and costly priorities such as defence, technological competitiveness and support for European industry, without abandoning traditional policies including farm subsidies and cohesion funding for poorer regions.

Five countries (Germany, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Austria) have already called for a smaller increase in the next budget, arguing that new financing needs cannot simply be passed on to national treasuries and European taxpayers.

The 6G proposal is designed precisely to open up new fiscal room without requiring matching increases in national contributions.

From carbon permits to crypto and online gambling

The European Spectrum Union is only one of several options on the table.

Among the proposals under consideration is diverting to the EU budget part of the revenue member states raise from auctioning CO2 emissions allowances, as well as income linked to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, the EU’s levy on carbon-intensive imports.

Other options include a charge on uncollected electronic waste, a share of excise duties on tobacco and flat-rate contributions from large companies operating in the single market.

Further ideas involve levies on extreme wealth, digital services, online gambling and capital gains from cryptocurrencies. None has been agreed, and several face resistance from member states.

The key obstacle is that the final financing package requires the agreement of all 27 member states, making the negotiations particularly complex. Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, must now establish which of these options, or which combination, could win unanimous backing by the next EU summit in October.