Stenbock House, 20 February 2020 – Today, Prime Minister Jüri Ratas will head to Brussels to discuss the next seven-year budget with European Union Heads of State and Heads of Government at an extraordinary European Council.
According to Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, it is important for Member States to reach an agreement in the EU budget for 2021–2027 as soon as possible, in a manner that satisfies all parties. “This is an ambitious goal, but Estonia is ready for negotiations. An agreement is already needed so that investments for improving people’s lives and creating new jobs could be made right from the January of next year,” said the Prime Minister. He also considered important for the new budgetary plan to support Member States in facing both existing and new challenges, including in achieving climate goals.
Ratas added that even though the President of the European Council Charles Michel’s proposition included modest positive developments for Estonia, there is still much to be negotiated. “Reduction in the financing of cohesion policy and the increase in own contribution must be smoother than what is proposed, despite Estonia’s fast economic development. This support has been very important to our country in making investments and reforms that have significantly bettered the living standard of people,” said the Prime Minister.
“It must also be ensured that our farmers have equal competition conditions with the farmers of other European Union Member States. Therefore, we also wish for a faster harmonisation of direct payments. We also consider continuing the support of Rail Baltic very important. This is a railway connection that is strategically important for us, which allows for environmentally friendly transport and travel for our people, but also a fast north-south freight corridor for businesses,” said the Prime Minister.
At the beginning of the Council, Heads of Member States will meet with the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli. After that, the leaders of EU states will discuss the proposal of the upcoming budgetary plan.
Before the Council, a meeting of the Heads of Government of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark (NB6) will be held. A separate meeting of the Heads of Government of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will also be held, where they will discuss common priorities in the negotiations of the upcoming budget.
On 14 February, the President of the European Council Charles Michel submitted his proposal to the Member States for budgetary negotiations. According to the proposal, the overall budget for the next seven years would be 1,094.8 billion euros, which means that it would make up 1.074% of the gross national income of Member States. Unanimous support of all Member States and consent of the European Parliament are required for adopting the budgetary plan.
Reaching a quick agreement is necessary for being able to commence the programmes and activities from 2021 that are supported from the next period’s budget. After an agreement on the long-term budgetary plan, it is necessary to introduce the budget volumes and outcomes of negotiations into so-called fund regulations, conclude the negotiations of these with the European Parliament, translate the legislation into EU official languages, and publish them in the European Union Official Journal, so that they could enter into force as of the beginning of 2021. In the event that an agreement is not reached on time, decision-making processes may come to a halt until the budget is adopted.
Timetable of the Council and additional information: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/et/meetings/european-council/2020/02/20/