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EU leaders in 750 billion planned The euro fund has been gathering since Friday. The last round of talks began at 9:30 Lithuania time, and some diplomats predicted that the meeting could continue until Monday morning.
On the eve of the negotiations, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, proposed that the fund receive € 500 billion in grants and € 250 billion in loans. euros The European Commission intends to borrow these funds in international markets.
During the negotiations, it has already reduced the proportion of subsidies to 450 billion. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his allies are calling for more cuts and tighter spending controls.
“The savings continue to seek to reduce the share of the subsidies in the fund,” an official informed of the progress of the negotiations on Sunday night told BNS, speaking anonymously about the sensitivity of the issue.
According to media reports from Brussels, the negotiations are considering that the share of the subsidies in the fund could be reduced to 350-400 billion. euros
If the leaders find a compromise on the size of the fund, the President of the European Council can present a detailed updated proposal on Monday night, reflecting the participation of each country, but there is also the possibility that the summit will fail without a compromise.
Lithuanian Ambassador to Brussels Jovita Neliupšienė summed up the discussions with the Dutch in a playful metaphor on Sunday night.
“The second day of the European Council revolves around loose but delicious Dutch pancakes. On the third day, the EU27 seems to have agreed that everyone likes the taste of EU perennial pie, but there is no consensus on which cherries to use. to decorate the cake. So it seems that “Ode to Joy” will not sound tonight, so I will hear “Wake me up,” wrote the Lithuanian ambassador on Twitter around 10 pm.
The Ode to Joy is the EU’s anthem.
Lithuanian interests
Unofficial estimates suggest that according to Saturday’s proposals, non-reimbursable assistance to Lithuania could amount to around € 1.5 billion, in addition, Lithuania could apply for some € 2 billion in additional loans.
Along with the Recovery Fund, a draft EU budget of more than € 1 trillion by 2021-2027 must be presented and updated.
President Gitanas Nausėda, representing Lithuania in the negotiations, said that before the working dinner, the positions of the group of “austerity countries” and the countries of southern Europe were still “quite different”, and the agreement was possible, but not guaranteed.
“It just caught our eye then. But if we don’t see that ending yet, we are ready to meet again soon, if possible due to the deterioration in the coronavirus situation,” G. Nausėda said Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday night, the presidency resumed the official agenda of the head of state, with the participation of two officers in the European Council session instead of the expected award from the general ranks.
Before the decisive round of negotiations, the President of Lithuania prioritized support for agriculture to bring direct payments to farmers closer to the EU average.
“The position of the Baltic states is that we are ready for commitments, but those commitments cannot be made at any cost without red lines,” said the president.
“There are funds that we will not agree to reduce, and for that reason, even if that happens, we will have counter proposals, which are mainly related to greater support for agriculture,” said G. Nausėda.
On Saturday, the updated draft of the EU budget offered Lithuania an additional € 125 million in support of agriculture, but the Lithuanian delegation promises to go further.
Farmers in the Baltic countries currently receive the lowest direct payments in the EU, at around € 170 per hectare, compared to the EU average of more than € 250.
At the start of the summit, Nausėda promised to demand that profits be increased to 196 euros next year.
In addition to agriculture, another important line for Lithuania was modified in the updated draft of the EU budget on Saturday – Cap. Michel agreed from 139 to 189 million. to increase funding for the so-called Special Transit Scheme, which is used by Russian citizens traveling through Lithuania between the main part of Russia and the Königsberg region.
No changes are planned for other important issues for Lithuania: the so-called cohesion support and the financing of the closure of the Ignalina nuclear power plant.
So-called cohesion support for Lithuania in 2021–2027 may decrease by as much as 24%, as indicators of the Lithuanian economy have come close to the community average.
This decrease can be slightly reduced by compensating for the losses caused by emigration: for Lithuania it would reach around 180 million. euros
In the new financial perspective, it is proposed to allocate LTL 490 million for the decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant. euros
Law-related disputes
The controversy in the negotiations is also the desire of Western Europeans to link the allocation of funds to the country’s compliance with the rule of law. The Hungarian and Polish governments are opposed to this, which are in conflict with Brussels.
In his comments distributed by the Presidency, the President of Lithuania, G. Nausėda, did not express a categorical position on this issue, but noted that this issue is important not only for Hungarians and Poles.
“On implementing the principle of the rule of law, everyone is looking at Poland and Hungary, but I think that such a position and such an approach is not correct.” We may be looking at these countries today, but potentially such a matter of the rule of law could arise at any time in any EU country, including the old democracies, “he said.
At the summit, journalists have not yet had a chance to ask questions directly of the president. The media are unable to enter the EU Council building due to the risk of coronavirus, and Lithuanian journalists have been offered to put questions to the media through the Advisor to the President.
This is the first summit since the pandemic. There are fewer journalists not only in the EU Council building, but also diplomats. According to sources, a maximum of six people can participate in delegations to this European Council without a boss. In the past, delegations sometimes included up to 15 people.
Nausėda warned that as the spread of the coronavirus accelerates again, managers may have to return to video conferencing in the near future.
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