LITHUANIA DISAGREES WITH THE UK PRESIDENCY PROPOSAL TO REDUCE EU ASSISTANCE FOR THE NEW MEMBER STATES
On 6 December Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antanas Valionis stated that the United Kingdom Presidency proposal to reduce the EU budget to the disadvantage of the least economically developed Member States is unacceptable to Lithuania.
On 5 December the UK Presidency presented official proposal on the EU Financial Perspective for 2007-2013. The UK Presidency offers to reduce the EU budget from 870 to 850 billion Euros and review the revenue and expenditures after 2008. The Presidency proposes to reduce structural and cohesion fund assistance for the new Member States by 8 %.
“We disagree with such attitude of the Presidency and it does not bring us closer to the agreement on the budget. The agreement must not put the least economically developed Member States at disadvantage, “ Foreign Minister Valionis noted.
According to the Minister the basic principles are not least important than the amounts in the negotiations. The compromise should be fair and respect the principles of solidarity, and the burden should be equally distributed among all EU Member States, the Minister said.
On 2 December Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas during the meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Tallinn noticed that Lithuania will not seek the agreement on the EU budget at any price and voiced hope that the UK will change its attitude.
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