Talks over the European Union’s next seven-year budget will be “very difficult”, Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor has said, as she warned that an agreement was far from certain.
Leaders of the 27 nations in the EU meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to thrash out a deal on the trillion-euro budget for 2014 to 2020, after talks collapsed in November.
Speaking in her weekly podcast, Ms Merkel said she expected the negotiations would be very difficult.
”Germany will try to contribute to a result. We can't say yet whether the talks will succeed. I only know that the negotiations will be very difficult” she said. "But it is worth trying.”
She said the budget must be used to make sure the EU increases its competitiveness and that member states' economies become gradually more aligned.
Ms Merkel is schedule to meet a series of leaders ahead of the budget talks, starting with Mariano Rajoy, Span’s prime minister on Monday.
She is also schedule to see Francois Hollande, France’s president, on Wednesday. Ms Merkel is seeking a re-election for a third term in office later this year and said she “would do everything to reach an agreement”.
In November, Herman Van Rompuy, EU president proposed a budget of €973bn (£845bn), which is just over 1pc of EU GDP.
However, talks collapsed and David Cameron was accused of “blackmailing” other EU leaders.
“Our position is very simple, we cannot increase spending in the EU when we're cutting it at home,” Mr Cameron said after the November talks collapsed.
“We argued for a cut, or, at the very least, a freeze in spending.”
telegraph.co.uk
Leaders of the 27 nations in the EU meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to thrash out a deal on the trillion-euro budget for 2014 to 2020, after talks collapsed in November.
Speaking in her weekly podcast, Ms Merkel said she expected the negotiations would be very difficult.
”Germany will try to contribute to a result. We can't say yet whether the talks will succeed. I only know that the negotiations will be very difficult” she said. "But it is worth trying.”
She said the budget must be used to make sure the EU increases its competitiveness and that member states' economies become gradually more aligned.
Ms Merkel is schedule to meet a series of leaders ahead of the budget talks, starting with Mariano Rajoy, Span’s prime minister on Monday.
She is also schedule to see Francois Hollande, France’s president, on Wednesday. Ms Merkel is seeking a re-election for a third term in office later this year and said she “would do everything to reach an agreement”.
In November, Herman Van Rompuy, EU president proposed a budget of €973bn (£845bn), which is just over 1pc of EU GDP.
However, talks collapsed and David Cameron was accused of “blackmailing” other EU leaders.
“Our position is very simple, we cannot increase spending in the EU when we're cutting it at home,” Mr Cameron said after the November talks collapsed.
“We argued for a cut, or, at the very least, a freeze in spending.”
telegraph.co.uk
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