Croatia can be satisfied because once it joins the European Union it will receive incomparably more money than before, it will have the opportunity to use a great deal more funds, Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said in Brussels on Thursday after speaking with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Van Rompuy and Barroso are holding bilateral consultations with the heads of states of EU member countries and forthcoming member Croatia ahead of an extraordinary summit of European Union heads of state and prime ministers to discuss the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
It is important that Croatia be allowed a longer period in which to utilise funding earmarked for each year. According to the current proposal, funding earmarked for a particular year can be expended over the subsequent two years and Croatia is asking that this period be extended to three years which would increase our chances to fully utilise available funds.
"We presented our position and explained that we will need some time to adapt to new circumstances with regard to funding. There is a good chance of this but I cannot promise anything", said Milanovic.
The PM said that Croatia was not that involved in the debate over the MFF but that it supported those countries aligned with the "Friends of Cohesion" that advocate that austerity measures in the EU budget should not affect cohesion funds which are earmarked for reducing the difference between wealthier and poorer regions in the Union.
Van Rompuy expects a difficult debate and stresses the importance of reaching an agreement at the summit. Failure to reach agreement would be harmful for all of us, he has said.
The MFF is a key document that defines priorities of expenditure limits that determine how much money the EU can spend. The bulk of the budget is earmarked for the Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy.
Last week, Van Rompuy prepared draft conclusions that include further reductions on the overall expenditure ceilings compared to those proposed by the European Commission.
The proposal by the EC does not satisfy either of the two groups of countries - those that pay more into the budget than they draw and those that get more than they give. The first group, informally referred to as "Friends of Better Spending" advocate that the EU budget should not be an exception during times of austerity and budget cuts.
Before the summit starts, PM Milanovic will first attend a meeting of PES heads of state and prime ministers to prepare their positions.
