German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to members of Germany's lower house of parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany October 17, 2019 REUTERS/Michele Tantussi

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday said the European Union needed to discuss a possible discount for Germany as part of budget negotiations because Germany would be “disproportionately burdened” by an increase in the bloc’s budget.

Raising the European Union’s budget to 1% of the bloc’s economic strength without contributions from Britain in future would overly burden Germany, Merkel told lawmakers in Berlin’s lower house of parliament ahead of a EU summit on Thursday.

“That’s why we need to have a discussion about a fair distribution of burdens on the funding side and also about a discount for Germany,” she said.