Member states asked to clarify spending positions

Poland sends questionnaire to EU affairs ministers in bid for opinions on Commission’s proposal.

The Polish presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers is aiming to clarify national governments’ positions on the Union’s multiannual financial framework for 2014-20 during two days of talks among the bloc’s European affairs ministers next week.

A questionnaire drafted by the presidency was sent to the ministers on Monday (18 July) by Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, Poland’s secretary of state for European affairs. It poses three questions for member states to answer at the informal talks that take place at the Polish Baltic Sea resort of Sopot on 28-29 July. Dowgielewicz said that the entire meeting would be devoted to the issue, giving member states a first chance to react, behind closed doors, to the European Commission’s proposals.

Member states are asked if they agree with the Commission’s plan to impose more conditions on EU funds and to simplify the rules for obtaining funding. The questionnaire also seeks views on the Commission’s ideas about linking spending closely to the Europe 2020 strategy to boost jobs and growth. And it asks whether member states are willing to increase spending in areas where the EU has more powers under the Lisbon treaty, such as justice and home affairs and external relations.

Crisis awareness

Dowgielewicz said that the talks would be used to “enlighten” member states on the proposal that the Commission presented on 29 June. That recommended a total of €1,053 billion in commitments – the money governments agree to provide for the EU’s spending needs. An initial discussion, at a meeting on Monday of the General Affairs Council, was intentionally kept short to avoid stoking a pre-emptive fight among member states. Janusz Lewandowski, the European commissioner for financial programming and budget, used the talks to defend the Commission’s proposal. He said that the Commission “was absolutely aware” of the budgetary crisis in many member states, and that this was reflected in the proposal. He added that the proposal would impose “a nominal freeze” on the two largest spending programmes in the EU budget: cohesion policy and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

‘Strong reluctance’

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After the meeting, Jean Leonetti, France’s European affairs minister, told reporters of “a strong reluctance” to accept the Commission’s proposal. He said France would urge more restrained spending to reflect budget cuts at national level – echoing reactions in the UK and the Netherlands. Leonetti also indicated that France would push for spending on the CAP to remain a priority.

UK officials said that, taking account of inflation, the Commission’s proposal represented an 11% above their stated desire for a freeze in real terms. Germany, Finland, France, the Netherlands and the UK have called for commitments over the next mulitannual financial framework to exceed the 2013 level “with a growth rate below the rate of inflation”.