In negotiations on the new multiannual financial framework of the European Union (EU), some progress has been achieved in the areas which Latvia considers as priorities, including cohesion financing for the period of 2014 – 2020. However, in the further negotiation process Latvia has to continue actively defending its interests in areas crucial to our country. Members of the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima arrived at this conclusion on Friday, 6 July, after hearing a report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the EU multiannual financial framework negotiations.
Discussions on the new EU multiannual financial framework, alongside the situation in the euro area and further economic and monetary integration of the EU, were on the agenda of the European Council meeting of 28 and 29 July.
“Today in discussions with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other ministries, we concluded that the coordinated cooperation that Latvia has carried out up until now regarding the multiannual financial framework negotiations has yielded the first results,” Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee, remarked.
“The coordinated actions of government representatives, diplomats, members of the Saeima, members of the European Parliament elected from Latvia and our social partners have brought results – for example, differentiation of cohesion financing appropriations, which would apply to four countries, including Latvia, has been introduced in the negotiations. This gives Latvia a good chance of maintaining the current amount of cohesion funding; that would be a significant achievement for our country,” Kalniņa-Lukaševica said.
The Chairperson of the Committee remarked that our opinion has also been heard in Latvia’s second priority area of the EU multiannual financial framework, namely, increasing direct agriculture payments. Kalniņa-Lukaševica emphasised that the final decision on the new EU multiannual financial framework is planned to be taken by the end of this year; hence, Latvia must continue to actively voice its opinion on both of these important issues.
Ilze Juhansone, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Latvia to the EU, also expressed appreciation for the coordinated opinion that Latvian politicians and representatives of public organisations have expressed in Brussels and other EU member states. The Ambassador noted that by its active participation in the negotiations on the multiannual financial framework, the Latvian parliament has established a respected reputation, and its role is valued in Brussels. Likewise, it is important to continue cooperation among the Baltic States by expressing a coordinated position on all levels of EU policy regarding the need to maintain cohesion funding at the previous level and to increase direct agriculture payments, Juhansone said.
In reporting on the further negotiation process, Juhansone said that at the moment work regarding the negotiation framework is being passed on from the Danish presidency to Cyprus and that bilateral consultations have been planned for mid-July; they will be followed by an informal meeting of the ministers of EU affairs at the end of August so that initial estimates may be clear by the beginning of October. At the moment, the goal is to come to an agreement by the end of this year, the Ambassador said.
Other issues discussed in today’s meeting of the European Affairs Committee included the progress in negotiations on the Connecting Europe Facility, energy projects, the Baltic States’ cross-border cooperation platform in education, technology and innovations BIRTI and the financial transactions tax. The Chairperson of the Committee thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Economics and the Ministry of Transport for their comprehensive report on the EU multiannual financial framework negotiations. During the meeting, the role of the European Parliament in the multiannual financial framework negotiations was emphasised.
Saeima Press Service