Pedro Sánchez describes EU budget proposal from President of the European Council as "highly disappointing"

Brussels (Belgium)

The President of the Government is attending the extraordinary meeting of the European Council in Brussels that has been called to debate the long-term budget of the European Union for 2021-2027, the so-called Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF).

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, presented a proposal to reach an agreement on the total budget volume and how it might be allocated, which would result in a 20% reduction in the amount spent on the Common Agricultural Policy when compared with the current period 2014-2020 and a 15% reduction in cohesion policies.

Pedro Sánchez said that this proposal is "highly disappointing" for both the European Union as a whole and for Spain. He went on to say that it is worse than the proposal presented by the Finnish presidency in terms of the policy amounts corresponding to Spain and because it adds "unacceptable" flexibility in issues such as the rules governing the rule of law.

Furthermore, he explained that the proposal reduces the amount spent on cohesion policies, which seek to guarantee convergence in Europe, and the policies tied to the Common Agricultural Policy, which should provide at least the same level of support to farmers as they do now.

The President of the Government sent a message of calm to crop and livestock farmers, from whom he asked for trust and patience because "their demands are fair" and the Government of Spain will give them an answer as soon as possible. In this regard, he announced that the next Council of Ministers meeting will agree a number of initiatives to "try to rebalance the necessary transparency in the food chain".

Non official translation