ZAGREB, February 22, 2020 – EU member states will have to put in an extra effort to reach a compromise on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), and at this summit the time was not ripe for that, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Brussels on Friday evening.
The leaders of the 27 member states failed in their first attempt to reach an agreement on the EU budget for the 2021-2027 period because the differences in views between rich net contributors and poorer net beneficiaries were too big.
“We will have to invest an additional effort to reach a compromise, and today wasn’t the time for that. From Croatia’s point of view, we can be satisfied because we managed to include our special status in the negotiating framework and that is that we are the only country that has used only one seven-year budget. We also managed to include the issue of depopulation and demographic revitalisation, which has never before been in the negotiating box,” Plenković said after the extraordinary summit.
The proposal drawn up by European Council President Charles Michel provides for an additional allocation for countries that have used only one seven-year budget, and only Croatia fits this definition. Additional funding is also envisaged for countries that have recorded considerable population losses due to emigration.
“Our colleagues look at this effort on our part as if we, colloquially speaking, put a foot in the door. This is our position now. However, we all will still have to do a lot of work to reach a comprehensive compromise,” the Croatian PM said.
He could not predict when a new summit would be convened to try to reach an agreement on the MFF.
“If we were to meet next week, I’m afraid we would still be in the same positions as we are today. We will have to find a way to bring our positions closer together, see when the time is ripe and then meet again,” Plenković said.
“The position of most of the countries is quite clear and no one has anything against respecting the rule of law, and any serious violations of the rule of law require a response. The key in this debate is not to leave too much space to arbitrariness but to say precisely what that refers to,” he added.
The majority of the summit, convened to reach a compromise on the 2021-2027 MFF, passed in bilateral meetings, while a plenary session had been delayed throughout the day.
After a full two days of talks a new proposal was put on the table that the next seven-year budget should be 1.069 percent of the gross national income, but it did not receive leaders’ support. The amount is slightly lower than 1.074 percent proposed by European Council President Michel.
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