Stenbock House, 29 November 2018 – today, Prime Minister Jüri Ratas will take part in the meeting of 16 Member States, i.e. the Friends of Cohesion summit, in Bratislava to discuss matters related to the next budget period of the EU. Within the framework of the Cohesion Policy, reforms and investments in Europe are provided support and hundreds of thousands of projects are realised – thousands of those have contributed also to the development of Estonia.
According to Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, the meeting’s focus will be the need to strengthen the importance of the Cohesion Policy in the next draft budgetary plan of the EU for 2021–2027 in comparison with the previous proposals of the European Commission. “It is in our common interests that the budget of the European Union does not decrease in the next budget period. The European Union must be strong, aimed at the development of the Member States, and looking towards the future. Our financing decisions must help us to achieve these goals in the best way possible. Increasing the well-being of our people and our common security is in the interests of all Member States,” said Prime Minister Ratas.
Estonia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary will participate in the summit. Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission, and Vazil Hudák, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, are also invited to the meeting.
The aim of the European Cohesion Policy is to decrease inequalities between the Member States, integrate the internal market, and increase the competitiveness of the union in the world. During the 2014–2020 budget period, Estonia will receive 3.5 billion euros from the structural funds of the Cohesion Policy as well as 1.8 billion euros in agriculture, rural development, and fisheries aid.