[ad_1]
The recovery plan presented to the summit foresees $ 750 billion. € 250 billion, of which € 500 billion in loans and € 500 billion in euros – grants. Grants should not be reimbursed to recipient countries.
European Council President Charles Michel announced Monday morning that he was proposing to cut the share of subsidies to $ 390 billion. and announced a break, diplomatic sources said.
The new plenary session should begin no earlier than 5 p.m. Lithuanian time. Negotiations in Brussels have been taking place since Friday.
The pressure of saving
According to BNS sources, the Prime Ministers of the Netherlands and Austria, Mark Rutte and Sebastian Kurz, were the strongest in calling for a cut in subsidies during the leaders’ session on Monday night.
“Rutte and Kurzas are ahead of everyone else,” an official who reported the progress of the talks Monday morning told BNS, speaking anonymously about the sensitivity of the issue.
Scanpix photo / Sebastian Kurz
The fund would be based on loans from the European Commission in international markets, but the Dutch and Austrian governments do not want to distribute co-borrowed money to countries like Spain or Italy, which they consider too easy to spend, without stringent conditions.
Most other leaders say the EU must show solidarity in the face of the coronavirus crisis.
Diplomats hope Ch. Michel will present a detailed and updated proposal on Monday afternoon on criteria for allocating the recovery fund and a separate EU budget of more than € 1 trillion by 2021-2027.
Lithuanian interests
Unofficial estimates showed that according to Saturday’s proposals, non-reimbursable aid to Lithuania could amount to around € 1.5 billion, plus Lithuania could apply for about € 2 billion in additional loans. If the fund is cut, Lithuania’s share will likely decrease.
Before the decisive round of negotiations, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda allocated funds from the EU budget to agriculture as a priority for the Baltic states 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,” the president said on Sunday afternoon.
Reuters / Scanpix photo / Gypsies Nausėda
“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 proposed an additional 125 million LTL for Lithuania. EUR, 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.
Money for the Königsberg transit
In addition to agriculture, another important line for Lithuania was changed on Saturday in the updated draft of the EU budget: Ch. Michelis 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.
This is the first summit since the pandemic. Journalists have not yet had the opportunity to ask questions directly of the President, security is not allowed in the EU Council building and the number of members of delegations has been reduced.
G. Nausėda warned that as the spread of the coronavirus accelerates, managers may have to return to video conferencing again in the near future.
[ad_2]
