New proposals regarding the EU budget are better than those presented earlier on - Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday. He also announced ahead of the summit in Brussels that Poland would not support cuts in the EU budget, nor revolution in its structure.
The head of the Polish government said that, in accordance with compromise proposal put forward by the President of the European Council Charles Michel, Poland would receive more funds for both Cohesion Policy and Common Agricultural Policy, compared to the offer made by the European Commission.
We're happy to see already today, after the latest proposals that I've received, that our negotiations with Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen have brought results. These new proposals that we've received are better than those we'd been offered before" - Morawiecki told journalists in Brussels.
He also argued the negotiations "are very difficult because some countries push for new goals, they want a different structure of the budget and at the same time they also want to lower spending on agriculture policy and cohesion policy. From our point of view there is no agreement to revolutionise the structure of the budget and at the same time lower it."
Morawiecki explained Polish position in the Common Agricultural Policy would increase by 0.5 billion euro, which would mean a step towards leveling up direct payments for Polish farmers to match those of Western Europe. Moreover, he said Polish government would fight to improve the Cohesion Policy - co-financing construction of roads and modernisation of rail - in which steps in the right direction have already been made. He added, however, that most funds for local roads and highways come from state budget.
Long night talks ahead
European Union leaders arriving in Brussels on Thursday (February 20) set out competing visions for a joint seven-year budget from 2021, with the prospect of a long night of talks prompting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to quip he had brought a book to read.
The 27 leaders must work out how to fill a 75 billion euro ($81 billion) hole left by Britain's departure just as they face costly climate and other challenges.
The joint budget is the most tangible expression of the key topics the EU members want to focus on over the next seven years, as well as of their willingness to stump up cash.
While the bloc wants to spend more on climate, migration, digitalisation and security measures, the rich net contributors refuse to pay more while poorer net beneficiaries are determined to keep in place the support they get for farming and development.
Autorka/Autor: gf
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP