The EU plans to save 13 billion euros in budget expenditures by 2027
Kyiv • UNN
EU members are proposing to cut the budget increase proposed by the European Commission by 20%, which amounts to about €13 billion less, due to the burden on contributing countries.
Members of the European Union are proposing that the European Commission to reduce by at least 20%, or about 13 billion euros, the increase in the in the medium-term budget for 2024-2027. Politico writes about this with reference to two European diplomats, UNN reports .
Details
In June, the European Commission asked for 66 billion euros of additional spending to cover unforeseen expenses, arguing that the budget has been depleted by numerous crises - from the COVID-19 pandemic to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
EU member states, however, want to reduce this amount by at least 20%. by at least 20%, pointing out that the main burden of increased spending will fall on specific contributing countries (those who pay more to the EU budget than they receive from it).
You cannot ask only one group of Member States (net contributors) to make sacrifices. contributors) to make sacrifices while another group reaps most of the benefits. This would undermine the sense of fairness and solidarity in the Union
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The bulk of the additional EU funding, in addition to 50 billion in support to Kyiv (17 billion euros in grants plus 33 billion euros in off-budget low-interest loans), according to the European Commission's the European Commission's plan, will be used to pay interest rates on post-pandemic loans (18.9 billion euros), as well as migration agreements with third countries (15 billion euros).
All EU countries, except Hungary, agree on the need to continue supporting Ukraine, but some are less willing to give Brussels additional money for other purposes.
For example, some EU members from Eastern and Northern Europe, as well as Germany, want the as well as Germany, want the European Commission to fund new priorities, by saving money from other areas of the current long-term budget (2021-2027).
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According to Politico, Spain, which holds the EU Council presidency this half of the year, has proposed three plans to reduce additional costs by 5, 10 and 20 billion euros. But it does not satisfy the EU members from Southern Europe because it practically does not affect the agricultural fund and the EU cohesion fund, the two largest budget items.
EU ambassadors are expected to continue discussing this issue until the European Council meeting in mid-December.
