Following the release of the draft rapporteur reports in the EU Parliament, Baltic states are still extremely dissatisfied with their lot, saying they will press for fairer distribution of subsidies between old and new Member States.
During a European Union foreign ministers’ meeting on May 30 in Brussels, the foreign ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia together urged to bring about fairer direct payments for farmers, as well as suitable Cohesion funding, LETA was informed by the Foreign Ministry’s press and information department. Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics pointed out that EU’s multi-annual budget is an important instrument in furthering the growth of EU members. He emphasized that in order for countries to continue their development, Cohesion funding investments must be continued in the next planning period. Rinkevics urged the Danish presidency to include discussions on allocating the necessary financing to those countries who have been hit the worst by the economic crisis the past several years.
At the same time, Rinkevics also said that direct payment to farmers must become fairer, and urged for a minimum level to be set in accordance with the EU’s average level. He said that the bloc’s agricultural policies must be drawn up so that all EU members would have fair direct payment conditions.