Frugal Four
The Frugal Four is the nickname of an informal cooperation among like-minded fiscally conservative European countries, including Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden. It partly evolved as a successor of the New Hanseatic League that was set up to make up for the loss of the like-minded United Kingdom in the European political arena after Brexit. However, it was never founded as a transnational organisation like similar cooperations of countries in the European Union with shared interests.
The Frugal Four | |
|---|---|
Members of the Frugal Four after Germany's departure (shown in blue). | |
| Membership | |
| Area | |
• Total | 618,800 km2 (238,900 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2019 estimate | 42,313,923 |
• Density | 68.5/km2 (177.4/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2019 estimate |
• Total | $2.480 trillion |
• Per capita | $58,406 |
| Currency | Euro (€) Swedish Krona Danish Krone (EUR SEK DKK) |
Along with like-minded Germany, the Frugal Four advocate for EU budget rebates and tight fiscal policies in the eurozone governed by the Stability and Growth Pact, and generally advocate against a large distributive European budget and collective EU debt. They are, however, not Eurosceptic.
The Frugal Four experienced widespread media coverage throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.