Negotiations over the EU budget

negotiations over the eu budget The General Affairs Council on Monday addressed the upcoming EU budget

Representatives of EU Member States, including Romania, on Monday met in Brussels on the sidelines of the General Affairs Council to discuss the upcoming budget for the 2021-2027 period. The topic ranks high on the agenda of the upcoming EU Summit on Thursday, which is due to decide how Europe's money will be spent over the next seven years. At the end of the General Affairs Council, Commissioner for Budget Johannes Hahn said the meeting will most likely extend over several days. Talks are marred by great many divergences over the negotiation framework proposed by European Council President Charles Michel. 


Over the last few weeks Charles Michel has consulted with all EU leaders and summoned a summit on February 20 in an attempt to reach consensus. A difficult task it seems, given that talks over the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework are being further complicated by the withdrawal of Great Britain from the community bloc, a net contributor to the EU budget. In brief, Charles Michel suggested an increase in the contribution of national governments to the budget of 1.07% of GDP, whereas rich countries refuse to allot more than 1%. At the same time, Charles Michel suggested to strike a balance between new and old policies, additional funds for the fund for transitioning to a green economy, new self-sufficient financial resources, as well as an overhaul of the cohesion policy that should help less developed countries and areas. 


Charles Michel's proposal is seen as mostly favoring Eastern-European countries, which have opposed any slash of development funds. As for those Member States supporting the mechanism that conditions the disbursement of European funds on the observance of the rule of law, they claim the European Council president has considerably eased criteria for this mechanism. Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden want to maintain the system of reducing rebates for contributing states, namely for those whose contribution to the EU budget exceeds their allotted share. According to Austria, in the absence of rebates, these four countries plus Germany would end up financing 75% of net payments to the EU budget. As for Romania, our country wants the EU to continue financing the common agricultural policy and the cohesion policy, which remain the main instruments of reducing disparities between East and West inside the EU.

(Translated by V. Palcu)



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Publicat: 2020-02-18 13:50:00
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