In a move to reduce government spending, Waigel led the call for a reduction in Germany's contributions to the budget of the European Union in 1996. He wrote to Kohl pointing out that contributions from Germany made up about 60 percent of the EU's regional and structural funds and urging him to push for a cut in Germany's burden. In 1998, he joined fellow finance ministers Gerrit Zalm of the Netherlands, Rudolf Edlinger of Austria and Erik Åsbrink of Sweden urging President of the European Commission Jacques Santer to cap the proportion of a country's income which goes to the EU as part of his Agenda 2000 spending review.