Latvia ready for lengthy European Union budget negotiations

Taking inflation into account, this would amount to €1,279bn in commitments for the seven-year period.

His plan to spend about 1.11pc of the 27 nations’ combined economic production compare to 1.03pc of the pre-Brexit, 28-country Multiannual Financial Framework now in place.

The decision on whether a “generalized deficiency” in the rule of law risks impacting European Union funds would be proposed by the commission and adopted by national governments by the so-called reversed qualified majority voting.

The European Commission proposes to allocate 552 million euros at current prices in the EU’s 2021-2027 budget for the decommissioning of Lithuania’s Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP). The EU makes a difference in so many aspects of peoples’ lives.

“There is no massacre, neither for cohesion, nor for CAP”, Juncker told reporters.

Taxes on carbon emissions, plastic waste, and corporations could also contribute 22 billion euros annually, or 12 percent of total budget revenue, the commission said.

Brussels also provides for new sanctions for countries that do not fulfill their obligations.

Polish officials delivered a somewhat measured reaction to the budget announcement, expressing relief that the proposed long-term plan’s cuts and shifts in spending are much less painful than expected. The European Parliament also has to give its consent.

The Commission also proposed a new reserve to address crises linked notably by unforeseeable developments in global markets. The program would offer financial and technical support to national-level reforms in member states.

These new instruments were born out of the idea to create a budget specifically for the euro area.

“These high standards, and the family farm model, are part of the fabric of European values, but come at a price that EU citizens have shown they are willing to pay”, Creed said. The commission has tried to find a middle way. “We have more and more tasks ahead of us, for example on defence, strengthening Frontex, and building a brighter future for young Europeans”.

Commission proposal goes against the spirit of equal treatment and violates the union treaties, critics charge.

But Poland and Hungary, which have both been severely criticised by Brussels over democratic freedoms, are up in arms over the proposal to “suspend, reduce or restrict access” to errant states.

“To bring European economies closer to the Paris Agreement, the post-2020 EU budget must spend at least 40 percent on the decarbonisation of energy, industry and mobility systems, and ensure not one cent will benefit fossil fuel-related activities and infrastructure”. For the latter, the Commission aims to set up a funding mechanism that would help make sure that investment flows do not take a hit during periods of economic “shock”, among other measures aimed at making it easier for member states who do not use the euro to adopt it.

The executive, however, said it was a budget for “a Europe that protects, empowers and defends”.

Adhering to the Paris Agreement and to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Commission proposed to set a more ambitious goal for “climate mainstreaming” across all European Union programs and has set a 25 percent target of European Union revenues to be allocated to climate objectives.