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Ralitsa Kovacheva

The General affairs Council is discussing the next #EU #MFF #eucouncil 2014-2020 http://video.consilium...t=775-979-11155

24 April 2012 11:36

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF Finland wants the absorption of #EU funds to be taken into account in the allocation of CAP funds for the next period and macroeconomic conditionality to be applied to all EU funds, not just for the Cohesion Fund.

24 April 2012 11:55

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF Romania said that the ceiling of 2.5% for the Cohesion Fund is the minimum acceptable and there should be no double capping. It supports macroeconomic conditionality, but if approved, it should apply to all policies, not only to the cohesion policy. Romania keeps pushing for equalization of direct payments under CAP and oposes their capping.

24 April 2012 11:57

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF Austria and Germany believe that the #EC proposal for the #MFF contains too large expenditures. Both countries want the negotiations on the key priorities of the MFF 2014-2020 to go hand in hand with discussion on the specific numbers.

24 April 2012 12:03

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF #Poland opposed the reduction of #cohesion policy funds and any reallocation of resources from poorer to richer countries. With regard to macroeconomic conditions, the Polish official said: I want to see macroeconomic conditions that apply to Finland and the Netherlands, find a way to punish yourself first!

24 April 2012 12:12

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF #Hungary also reacted strongly against the reduction of cohesion policy funds and insisted on maintaining the size of the #CAP.

24 April 2012 12:14

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF #Spain insists to increase the funds for dealing with the unemployment and the level of EU co-financing to remain 80% and not to be decreased. The country supports the creation of so-called safety net for the trasition regions so they not to lose their eligibility for cohesion funds.

24 April 2012 12:23

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF #Sweden said the EC`s proposal for cohesion policy was unacceptable both in terms of volume and scope, because it shifted resources from the poorest to the richer regions. It supports reducing the EU co-financing rate to 75%, as well as macroeconomic conditionality. The CAP needs major cuts and reforms, the direct payments should start declining. Sweden also doubted the effectiveness of the CAP`s "greening".

24 April 2012 12:34

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF #France supported the proposal to reduce the amount of cohesion policy, macroeconomic conditionality and 75% level of EU co-financing, but opposed any major changes in terms of the CAP.

24 April 2012 12:36

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF The Netherlands not only supports the macroeconomic conditionality, but insists besides freezing there to be a possibility to completly cancel the EU funds for the offending countries.

24 April 2012 12:54

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF #Britain, of course, calls for a reduction in the #EU budget, insists more resources to go to poorer member states, it is against macroeconomic conditionality, in favour of reducing the CAP budget and against the capping on direct payments.

24 April 2012 13:03

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF #Bulgaria is against the ceiling of 2.5% for funds under the cohesion policy, as well as linking the future allocations with the level of absorption in the current period. The country also does not support the transfer of 10 billion euros from the Cohesion Fund to the Connecting Europe Facility. Bulgaria wants to maintain the size of the CAP and direct payments to be equalized between the member states, but believes that 30% for "greening" is a too high rate. The macroeconomic conditionality should apply to all policies.

24 April 2012 13:19

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #MFF The Danish EU Presidency #eu2012dk summarised the most controversial issues: the amounts proposed by the EC, which some countries find to be too large, and according to others, this is the absolute minimum; in terms of cohesion policy- the transition regions and ceilings; the CAP- the level of direct payments; macroeconomic conditionality. In the coming weeks, the Presidency will bring forward the issue of own resources in the European budget.

24 April 2012 13:49

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #GAC #MFF Ministers continue their public discussion with a debate on the cohesion policy.

24 April 2012 13:55

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #GAC #MFF As at their discussion last December, most countries said the relationship between the EU funds and Europe 2020 strategy should be the National Reform Programmes and not the country specific recommendations issued by the European Commission and the Council.

24 April 2012 14:36

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #GAC #MFF We are far from a compromise and we are still in the proposition game and not in the negotiation game, budget commissioner Lewandowski commented after the meeting.

24 April 2012 15:40

Ralitsa Kovacheva #eucouncil #GAC #MFF Asked what was the difference between the macroeconomic conditionality proposed in the next MFF and the current rules, given the sanctions already imposed on Hungary, Commissioner Lewandowski replied that the current regulation only applied to 14 Cohesion countries, poorer countries. The proposal that is discussed expands the sanctions to all Structural Funds, from the regional development to fisheries, so this will affect all countries, albeit to varying degrees, he explained.

24 April 2012 15:59

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Lithuania Opens a Temporary Office in Zagreb

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Adelina Marini

#euco British Prime Minister David Cameron said before the beginning of the taxation-energy EU summit today in Brussels, that the tax issue is a very important one and that making sure that companies pay taxes is a major priority for the UK G8 presidency.

22 May 2013 12:56

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Adelina Marini #euco It's very important the public opinion to scrutinise whether the leaders will implement the commitments they took today, Jose Manuel Barroso said

22 May 2013 18:53

Adelina Marini

The German #Bundestag has ratified the accession treaty of #Croatia with great majority. The document has to be ratified now by the upper chamber of the German parliament. Germany remained the last country not to have completed the ratification procedure. Croatia is scheduled to join the EU on July 1st and the ratification instruments must be presented in Rome on June 3rd at the latest.

16 May 2013 20:25

Adelina Marini

The EU ministers of finance #Ecofin will begin discussing in a few minutes the draft directive for bank resolution. Stay tuned for live updates

14 May 2013 12:01

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Adelina Marini #ecofin #bankingunion The public debate on the draft directive for bank resolution has just ended in the Ecofin. According to the Presidency, there is agreement on the issue of the application scope (the broadest possible) and in terms of exceptions - as limited as possible. All agreed that deposits below 100 000 euros should be protected in all cases. It is not impossible an overall agreement to be reached by the summer, the Commission, the Council and the ECB believe

14 May 2013 15:06

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