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“There are two key questions for which there are still no clear answers and the EP is making its decision very clear. The new 750 billion Recovery Fund. The EU is lending money to the financial markets. That debt will have to be delivered some Someday, how it will be given away, there are still no clearer answers.
One of the mechanisms by which this debt can be paid could be the introduction of new general taxes. The EP poses this problem very abruptly to make it clear how the borrowed funds will be transferred, so that those debts are not left to future generations. Without a clear mechanism to deliver them, future EU budgets would suffer. They should also provide for the payment of this debt, ”A. Kubilius told Eltai.
The second unanswered question, according to the MEP, is related to the actions of nation states: how the borrowed money will be used.
“The EU announces plans that this money should be used to green the economy, digitization and recovery, but I can immediately say that I do not believe that Lithuania has plans to use this money effectively and productively yet.” And they don’t start considering such plans, “said A. Kubilius.
The MEP also missed Lithuania’s participation in joint projects developed by the EU.
“In Lithuania, all the time we only care about our own pocket and the money available for our projects: the closure of Ignalina, the financing of the transit to Kaliningrad, the same payments to farmers. It is unfortunate that in Lithuania, unlike other countries, little attention is paid to common EU plans, future visions, such as the production of so-called clean hydrogen, which may become a strong new push for green energy, no attention is paid to joint projects such as quantum computers, to which the EU pays a lot of attention, but it is not clear how this will be achieved. In Lithuania, the government does not talk about it at all. Our horizons when it comes to EU affairs are very narrow. And this it is Lithuania’s biggest deficiency, “he said.
According to A. Kubilius, by directing a large part of the EU budget to agriculture, the EU should increase its overall budget to create more funds for other areas for future economic development.
“This is a historical heritage that the EU has been developing from the beginning, spending a lot of money on agriculture.” The biggest problem is not that agriculture gets a lot out of the budget, but the biggest problem is that it is very difficult for the EU to make decisions to increase its overall budget. So far, the total budget has been only 1%. GDP, now, with the new Recovery Fund, this threshold is exceeded. At least in this period of economic recovery, the EU will spend 1.8% for the first time. of GDP is a big step forward, “said Eltai.
“If in a sense it becomes not only a plan to overcome the crisis, but also a new mechanism to finance EU affairs, it would give hope that funds will be available not only for agriculture but also for other investments necessary and future-oriented, “added A. Kubilius.
In his opinion, Lithuania should direct part of the EU funds received to areas that would create a more modern Lithuania.
“I am convinced that most of the money should be spent in areas where there is more added value. This is mainly a high-tech economy. Lithuania has several areas where it can make a breakthrough and seek European or even global leadership: biotechnology, By concentrating the funds and having such a unique opportunity, it would be possible to invest in fundamental issues related to the future of Lithuania’s modern economy, “said A. Kubilius.
“But I am afraid it will be as always, distributed to everyone in a crumb, without achieving that progress in some key areas,” added the MEP.
The EP voted on Thursday to ask for changes to the draft multi-annual EU budget, agreed by 27 member states, recalls ELTA.
Compared to the previous one, in this financial perspective, for 2021-2027, Lithuania managed to negotiate 1.7 billion. The total amount of EU funds allocated to Lithuania amounts to € 14.5 billion. euros
LTL 6.2 billion has been allocated to Lithuania for the implementation of the cohesion policy. € A total of € 5 billion will be allocated to agricultural financing. euros
According to the agreement reached by the SVE, direct payments will amount to 178 euros per hectare in 2021 and will increase to 200 euros per hectare in 2022 and will continue to increase. It was agreed that direct payments from Lithuanian farmers would grow to reach € 215 per hectare in 2027.
Currently, direct payments to Lithuanian and Baltic farmers amount to around 170 euros per hectare, and the EU average is over 250 euros.
EU leaders have agreed on a common EU response to the health, social and economic crisis caused by the pandemic. To this end, the EU Resuscitation and Resilience Fund is being established, in which LTL 2.4 billion has been allocated to Lithuania. euros
President Gitanas Nausėda noted that if necessary, Lithuania could also borrow up to 4.7 percent from the Resuscitation and Resistance Fund. of Lithuania’s gross national product, or 2.2 billion. to implement reforms.
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