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On May 29 at the meeting of the EU Ministers for European Affairs in Brussels, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis stressed that it was difficult to expect economic growth and creation of new jobs, if the new multiannual EU budget were to cut spending on EU member states.

“The EU budget is, first of all, an investment budget. Last week, European leaders discussed economic growth initiatives. However, it is clear that without strong EU budget it will not be possible to boost economic growth and jobs,” Ažubalis said.

He stressed that the quality of spending was important. However, “better quality” should not mean “less spending”.

At the EU General Affairs Council meeting, political discussions were held on the income and expenditure in the multiannual budget for 2014-2020. The Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union submitted for consideration a negotiating box, reflecting all the key issues that were previously named by EU member states.

“We appreciate the Danish Presidency’s efforts and progress achieved in drafting the negotiating box regarding the key issues, but we still aim to achieve more equal allocations in the three main areas,” Ažubalis noted.

According to him, cohesion, agriculture and adequate financing of the decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant remain among the most important issues for Lithuania in the negotiations.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia submitted a joint proposal and aim to have it included in the negotiating box that the member states severely hit by the crisis would suffer even more from reduced structural support.

The Baltic States call for fair and equal assignment of direct payments in the agricultural sector, because the Commission’s proposal for the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework discriminates against them. The Minister also called for maintaining the existing financing model and safeguarding the co-financing rates for cohesion projects (VAT) from the EU funds.

Ažubalis also reminded the participants of the discussions about the EU’s obligation to ensure adequate financing for the decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, because it was a task not of the national but of the EU level.

“When speaking about the decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, let me also remind that the obligation to ensure its adequate financing has been taken by all EU member states in the Accession Treaty. This issue has become of extreme political sensitivity for Lithuania and it is absolutely necessary to specifically address it in the negotiating box,” the Minister said.

In June, the European Council will discuss the negotiating box. The Council is to adopt essential issues and options for negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework, which will form the basis for further political negotiations.