The Dutch government wants to join forces with other European Union countries to block the European Commission’s plan to raise the EU’s budget by 4.9 percent.

Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager made the announcement in response to the commission’s proposal to increase the budget by six billion euros to a total of 133 billion. He called the raise “totally unacceptable” and “out of proportion”.

Last month, Prime Minister Mark Rutte called a possible six-billion euro hike excessive, but then the plan was still up for discussion. EU Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski defends the increase, saying the commission is committed to paying a number of bills in the near future. “We’re still nine billion below the limit agreed earlier,” he explained.