Bulgaria and 16 other European Union countries have called for funding for the Common Agricultural Policy and cohesion policy to be maintained in the next long-term EU budget. Their position opposes the request of six net contributing countries to reduce the budget by several hundred billion euros, BTA summarized.
The initiative is coordinated by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Romanian President Nicosor Dan. In a joint letter published today by Meloni on her "Ex" profile, the leaders of the 17 countries warn that new European priorities must not be financed at the expense of agriculture and less developed regions.
The document is addressed to Irish Prime Minister Michail Martin, whose country holds the presidency of the EU Council, with a copy to European Council President Antonio Costa. In addition to Bulgaria, the signatories include Italy, Romania, Cyprus, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain.
On the Bulgarian side, the letter was signed by Prime Minister Rumen Radev.
According to its authors, cohesion policy and the Common Agricultural Policy promote convergence between countries and regions, strengthen the single market, support rural and less developed areas and contribute to Europe's food security.
The seventeen countries note that the European Commission's proposal already implies a reduction in funds for both policies in real terms despite the increase in the total size of the future financial framework. Further cuts would weaken the EU budget and public support for the European project, they warn.
The letter acknowledges the need for the EU to spend more on security and defence, competitiveness, connectivity, energy security and sustainability. However, the signatories say these priorities require additional resources, rather than diverting money from agriculture and cohesion policy.
The countries are ready to discuss new own revenues for the EU budget to ease pressure on national budgets. They insist that such sources should be fair, simplified and not disproportionately burden citizens with lower incomes.
The letter outlines the deepening division among member states in the negotiations on the EU budget for the period 2028-2034.
Four days earlier, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Finland also sent a joint letter to the Irish presidency, but with the opposite request. The six countries warned that they could block the agreement if the European Commission's proposal for a budget of nearly 2 trillion euros is not reduced by "several hundred billion euros".
They insist that all spending areas participate in the cuts, and that the bulk of the funds be directed to security and defense, competitiveness, innovation and the fight against illegal migration. The six countries provide nearly 40 percent of the contributions to the EU budget.