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.

Furthermore, the Frugal Four wish for spending conditions that are tied to supporting the effective implementation of EU-wide policy objectives and the upholding of the rule of law.

[citation needed] During a summit of EU leaders on 26 March 2020,[6] Germany and the Frugal Four rejected a joint European recovery initiative.

[9] This new measure to tackle the pandemic and its consequences would lead to shared borrowing with other EU member countries, a position that Germany tried to avoid until that point.