‘We did not hear any concrete proposal, be it on rule of law or on climate,’ group says after audience with nominee.</s>The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is being reduced by 5% under proposals presented by Gunther Oettinger, the European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources, in Brussels.

Speaking at the unveiling of the European Union’s proposed next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) budget – running from 2021-2027 – Commissioner Oettinger has proposed that direct payments are to be reduced by circa 4%.

It is believed that the total EU budget for the seven-year period is €1.270 trillion. It is understood that this translates into 1.11% of the EU27’s gross national income (GNI).

The looming exodus of the UK – a net contributor of the EU – from the European Union is expected to result in a staggering shortfall of €12 billion annually to the overall budget.

Speaking in Kilkenny recently, EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Affairs Phil Hogan warned that the scale of the challenge in relation to defending the CAP is “unprecedented” this time around.

“The European Commission is not like a national government – it cannot run a deficit, so we are bound by budgetary constraints.

“Meanwhile, Brexit is blowing a €12 billion hole in the overall European budget – and other priorities such as security, migration and defence have grown in prominence in recent years. Another €12 billion is demanded by many member states to ensure delivery of those policies too.

Commissioner Hogan previously stated that both he and his team and have faced an “uphill race” to protect the current CAP budget.

He explained that member states have the possibility to make up the shortfall by contributing a higher percentage of Gross National Index – a point which he said he has “strongly” stressed to heads of state and agriculture ministers across the EU.

“But we need to be realistic; in the absence of more money from member states, there will be a cut to the CAP budget, and there’s no point trying to sugar-coat that fact.

Commissioner Hogan has repeatedly outlined that his priority is to protect small and medium-sized farmers, who remain “the backbone of Europe’s food production and rural communities”.

“I also give you my word that I am doing everything in my power to protect the CAP budget. The CAP is a European success story, and I want that to continue into the future – but this success is built on farmers being rewarded for their work,” he said.

Commissioner Hogan is expected to make a statement on the future of the CAP budget in Brussels this afternoon. Stay tuned to AgriLand for all the latest updates. Hogan concedes that cuts to the CAP budget are ‘realistic’</s>"The European Commission's proposal would markedly increase Germany's contribution to the budget… We are prepared to bear greater responsibility in order to strengthen the European Union — however, this also means that all member states must bear their fair share of the burden," German foreign and finance ministers, Heiko Mass and Olaf Scholz, said in a joint published statement.

READ MORE: Eurozone Growth Slows Down as EU Unveils Post-Brexit Budget Plan

Increasing allocations for such fields as research an innovation, digital economy and border management, the draft budget also proposes to cut the Common Agricultural Policy by about 5 percent, which immediately got negative reaction by France, a country that has been traditionally been one of the main recipients of EU funds as part of the union's Common Agricultural Policy.

On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed the EU long-term 2021-2027 budget worth 1,279 billion euro ($1,500 billion). The draft budget is now to be considered by the Council of the European Union with the consent of the European Parliament.</s>"Overall, the Commission proposes a long-term budget of 1.135 billion euro in commitments… over the period from 2021 to 2027, equivalent to 1.11% of the EU27's gross national income," the press release read.

The Commission also proposed to link access to the EU funds with adherence to the rule of law.

"The Commission is, therefore, proposing a new mechanism to protect the EU budget from financial risks linked to generalised deficiencies regarding the rule of law in the Member States. The new proposed tools would allow the Union to suspend, reduce or restrict access to EU funding in a manner proportionate to the nature, gravity and scope of the rule of law deficiencies," the press release stated.

READ MORE: Poland's Foreign Minister Can't Accept Budget Without Balancing EU Members Needs

The Commission describes the adopted budget as modern, simple and flexible.

The budget envisages 187.37 billion euros for single market, innovation and digital issues, 442.412 billion euros for cohesion and values, 378.92 billion euros for natural resources and environment, 34.902 billion euros for migration and border management, 27.515 billion euros for security and defense, 123.002 billion euros for neighborhood and the world policy as well as 85.287 billion euros for European Public Administration.

READ MORE: In Five Years Euro Will Become a Thing of the Past — German Financial Analyst

The draft budget is now to be considered by the Council of the European Union with the consent of the European Parliament. The final decision must be made before May 2019, when the European Parliament elections, as well as the EU summit in the Romanian city of Sibiu, takes place.</s>BRUSSELS — The European Union on Wednesday launched the long and politically fraught process of drawing up its new long-term spending plans, seeking a bigger budget to finance new priorities like defense and border control and plug the gap left by Britain’s departure.

The bloc’s executive body, the European Commission, unveiled a seven-year spending package from 2021-2027 made up of budget commitments totaling $1.36 trillion, equivalent to around 1.1 percent of the total output of the 27 member states that will remain after Britain leaves.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the commission has “put forward a pragmatic plan for how to do more with less.”

“The economic wind in our sails gives us some breathing space, but doesn’t shelter us from having to make savings in some areas,” he said.

Spending on big-ticket items like agricultural and so-called “cohesion funds” that help bring the infrastructure of poorer members up to standard are both to be cut by around 5 percent, with the commission saying these policies would be “modernized” so they can deliver more with less.

“There is no massacre,” said Juncker.

Under the proposal, more money would be injected into security and defense, border management, research, innovation, the internet and high-tech development, a move the EU executive believes will pay dividends in the future.

Concerned by government moves in Poland and Hungary that the commission says are undermining their justice systems, the body is also seeking powers to suspend or restrict funding to countries whose rule of law standards might pose financial risks.

“We are proposing a new mechanism that allows us to protect the budget from financial risks linked to general deficiencies in the state of rule of law,” Juncker said. He said this “doesn’t target any particular member state, but it is an important aspect of our new budgetary architecture.”

Poland has already slammed the idea.

Brussels wants agreement on the budget before elections to the European Parliament in May next year. Typically, budget debates take several months, with EU lawmakers demanding greater ambition and member states insisting on cutting some spending. The budget must be approved by all EU member states unanimously and be endorsed by the assembly.

The Netherlands and Austria have already flagged their opposition.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Wednesday’s “proposal is not an acceptable outcome” because it leaves the Netherlands “paying too high a share of the bill.”

His Austrian counterpart, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, insisted that “an acceptable solution is still a long way away” and that he was counting on “hard and long negotiations.”

The signs are that debate could be as arduous as it has been in the past. Spending on some programs was delayed and projects postponed by wrangling over the current package, which runs until 2020.

Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, welcomed the start of the budget debate – if not the commission’s proposals themselves – by noting that it would have to come up with an average of $12 billion each year from 2021, even with a budget of 1 percent of output.

“We are willing to fulfill our responsibilities for strengthening the European Union, but this also requires a fair burden-sharing of all member states,” Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Foreign Minister Heiko Mass said Wednesday in a joint statement.

The commission has estimated that Britain’s departure will cut budget contributions by around $14.4 billion a year. Britain leaves the EU at the end of March 2019, but has agreed to pay its budget share until 2020.</s>Budget commissioner Günther Oettinger is expected to propose a European Union long-term budget of €1.135 trillion in a bid to protect the bloc's spending powers after Brexit. But the BBC Brussels correspondent Adam Fleming warned the EU will face a "massive row" as member states prepare to put up a fight to keep contributions balanced. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Fleming said:"They call it the Multi-Annual Financial Framework, the MFF, presumably to cover up the fact that it turns into a massive political row rather than it being a dry, technical, boring, technocratic process. "We expect the European Commission to publish a whole list of proposals about the size of the budget and priorities running from 2021 for seven years onwards.

"Of course there’s a Brexit-sized hole in it which the European Commission estimates could be between €10bn and €15bn per year." EU Commission boss Jean-Claude Juncker had previously warned member states to brace for cuts to "cohesion and agricultural spending". The EU's €145bn budget is currently spent on sectors where "it makes sense to pool resources" like transport and the environment. Frugal EU member nations however have mounted pressure on Brussels to rein in ambitious spending plans in a bid to plug the Brexit blackhole. Mr Fleming continued: "The European Commission has led lots of groundwork already they said they want a bigger budget overall and they want to focus on new challenges which could mean less money for French farmers and the Common Agricultural Policy.

"There is going to be a massive row because this is just an initial proposal from the European Commission: it ’s got to be agreed by the member states and by the European Parliament as well." He added: "There might be some big questions asked during this process. Should richer countries, who are net contributors, pay in more? "Should poorer countries who get money out of the budget receive less, or should there be new sources of revenues?" Brussels is also set to propose a huge 30 percent increase in the bloc's foreign aid budget between 2021 and 2027. The bloc’s Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini is expected to propose an increase in the overall foreign aid budget to €123 billion (£108 billion) for the 2021-2027 period, from €95 billion for the 2014-2020 external financial budget.</s>BRUSSELS — The latest on Wednesday’s European Union budget proposals (all times local):

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says while there are positive elements to the proposed European Union budget, it’s not acceptable in its current form.

Kurz told reporters Wednesday that “for us an acceptable solution is still a long way away” and that he was counting on “hard and long negotiations.”

He says he found the considerations for the EU’s external borders positive, but that the current proposal places too heavy a burden on the net contributors to the budget.

He says the Brexit situation should be taken as an opportunity to become more economical and more efficient.

His Austrian People’s Party faction in European Parliament struck a more positive note, saying the proposal was “a step in the right direction and a suitable basis for tough negotiations.”

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says the European Commission’s proposed new seven-year budget is unacceptable because it will mean the Netherlands’ EU bill will increase too much.

In a statement Wednesday, Rutte said that the smaller EU that will come after the exit of Britain “must also mean a smaller budget.” He says that means making tough choices.

The Netherlands is one of the wealthier governments that contributes more to the European Union than it gets back. Rutte has been pushing for budgetary restraint in the aftermath of Brexit.

Rutte says the Netherlands will negotiate hard “for a modern budget in which the burdens are shared fairly.”

Polish officials have reacted with relief to the proposed long-term European Union’s spending plan, saying the cuts and shifts in spending are much less painful than had been expected.

Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski said Poland “appreciates” that the proposals from the European Commission are largely safeguarding spending in Central and Eastern Europe.

However, Szymanski conceded that compromises are still needed during the long budget process ahead.

Another member of Poland’s ruling right-wing party, Zdzislaw Krasnodebski who is European Parliament’s deputy speaker, said the cuts in future funding are “minimal.”

Krasnodebski said “none of the black scenarios” are on the horizon.

Warsaw is involved in a dispute with EU leaders over its rule of law record that had raised concerns that it would face significant punitive cuts in spending.

The German government said the European Commission’s budget proposal provided a good basis for the beginning of negotiations on the future of the EU’s finances.

In a joint statement, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz noted that the proposal would “considerably increase” the financial burden on Germany.

They said that under the proposals, Germany would need to pay an average of up to 10 billion euros ($12 billion) more a year from 2021.

“We are willing to fulfil our responsibilities for strengthening the European Union but this also requires a fair burden-sharing of all member states,” the pair said.

In the upcoming discussions which are likely to take months, they added that Germany will push to “sustainably strengthen the European Union’s capability for action over the next seven years” and enforce a “fundamental modernization” of EU spending.

Among other priorities, Germany is looking for better protection for the EU’s external borders and increased co-operation in joint defence policy.

The European Union’s executive branch has proposed a budget to finance new priorities like defence and border control as well as compensating for Britain’s departure from the bloc.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday that the 2021-2027 budget will be “bigger than the preceding one, because it will determine the future of our Europe of 27” members.

The Commission unveiled a seven-year spending package worth 1.135 trillion euros ($1.36 trillion), which accounts for around 1.1 per cent of the bloc’s total output.

Agricultural funding and “cohesion funds” that help raise the infrastructure standards of poorer states are both to be cut by around 5 per cent.

The Commission is also seeking powers to suspend or restrict funding to countries whose rule of law standards might pose financial risks.</s>The Swedish government said the European Commission wants it to increase its payment to the European Union (EU) budget by 35 percent in in 2021-2027 period compared to its average payment from 2014-2020.

"This is an unreasonable proposal. We cannot accept this," Finance minister Magdalena Andersson told Sweden's TT newswire, after the budget proposal was published on Wednesday.

"Sweden has contributed an enormous amount, partly as a net contributor to the European Union and partly because we have taken disproportionate responsibility for the 2015 refugee crisis," she said.

Swedish former Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt worked side-by-side with Britain in 2013 to drive through the first ever real-terms cut to the European Union's budget.

But this year, the Commission wants the budget to return to growth, aiming to increase it from around 1 percent of the bloc's GDP in 2014-2020 to 1.11 percent in the next period. According to the government's estimates, this would be the equivalent of an extra 15 billion kronor for Sweden.

With France and Germany now working closely together to deliver reforms to the Eurozone, and the UK out, Sweden's only allies in fighting to slim the budget are now smaller countries like Denmark, Austria and The Netherlands.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the budget was was a "pragmatic plan for how to do more with less".

When Britain leaves the EU, more than 100 billion kronor will disappear from its annual budget. At the same time, the EU has recently taken on new responsibilities around border control, migration and defence.

"The ball is now in the court of Parliament and Council. I strongly believe we should aim to have agreement before the European Parliament elections next year," Juncker said.

Andersson said she was in favour of some of the proposals in the budget, particularly a move to reduce EU financial support to countries, such as Poland and Hungary, which are weakening the rule of law.

"There's going to be some extremely tough negotiations," Andersson said about the budget. "Some people seem to think there's going to be some kind of easy solution to this, but that's not what I see ahead."</s>The latest on Wednesday European Union budget proposals (all times local):

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says the European Commission's proposed new seven-year budget is unacceptable because it will mean the Netherlands' EU bill will increase too much.

In a statement Wednesday, Rutte said that the smaller EU that will come after the exit of Britain "must also mean a smaller budget." He says that means making tough choices.

The Netherlands is one of the wealthier governments that contributes more to the European Union than it gets back. Rutte has been pushing for budgetary restraint in the aftermath of Brexit.

Rutte says the Netherlands will negotiate hard "for a modern budget in which the burdens are shared fairly."

Polish officials have reacted with relief to the proposed long-term European Union's spending plan, saying the cuts and shifts in spending are much less painful than had been expected.

Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski said Poland "appreciates" that the proposals from the European Commission are largely safeguarding spending in Central and Eastern Europe.

However, Szymanski conceded that compromises are still needed during the long budget process ahead.

Another member of Poland's ruling right-wing party, Zdzislaw Krasnodebski who is European Parliament's deputy speaker, said the cuts in future funding are "minimal."

Krasnodebski said "none of the black scenarios" are on the horizon.

Warsaw is involved in a dispute with EU leaders over its rule of law record that had raised concerns that it would face significant punitive cuts in spending.

The German government said the European Commission's budget proposal provided a good basis for the beginning of negotiations on the future of the EU's finances.

In a joint statement, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz noted that the proposal would "considerably increase" the financial burden on Germany.

They said that under the proposals, Germany would need to pay an average of up to 10 billion euros ($12 billion) more a year from 2021.

"We are willing to fulfill our responsibilities for strengthening the European Union but this also requires a fair burden-sharing of all member states," the pair said.

In the upcoming discussions which are likely to take months, they added that Germany will push to "sustainably strengthen the European Union's capability for action over the next seven years" and enforce a "fundamental modernization" of EU spending.

Among other priorities, Germany is looking for better protection for the EU's external borders and increased cooperation in joint defense policy.

The European Union's executive branch has proposed a budget to finance new priorities like defense and border control as well as compensating for Britain's departure from the bloc.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday that the 2021-2027 budget will be "bigger than the preceding one, because it will determine the future of our Europe of 27" members.

The Commission unveiled a seven-year spending package worth 1.135 trillion euros ($1.36 trillion), which accounts for around 1.1 percent of the bloc's total output.

Agricultural funding and "cohesion funds" that help raise the infrastructure standards of poorer states are both to be cut by around 5 percent.

The Commission is also seeking powers to suspend or restrict funding to countries whose rule of law standards might pose financial risks.</s>BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union on Wednesday launched the long and politically fraught process of drawing up its new long-term spending plans seeking a bigger budget to finance new priorities like defense and border control and plug the gap left by Britain’s departure.

The bloc’s executive, the European Commission, unveiled a seven-year spending package from 2021-2027 made up of budget commitments totaling 1.135 trillion euros ($1.36 trillion), equivalent to around 1.1 percent of the total output of the 27 member states that will remain after Britain leaves.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said his services “have put forward a pragmatic plan for how to do more with less.”

“The economic wind in our sails gives us some breathing space, but doesn’t shelter us from having to make savings in some areas,” he said.

Spending on big ticket items like agricultural and “cohesion funds” that help bring the infrastructure of poorer members up to standard are both to be cut by around 5 percent, with the Commission saying these policies would be “modernized” so they can deliver more with less.

Under the proposal, more money would be injected into security and defense, border management, research, innovation, the internet and high-tech development; a move the EU executive believes will pay dividends in the future.

Concerned by government moves in Poland and Hungary that is considers are undermining their justice systems, the Commission is also seeking powers to suspend or restrict funding to countries whose rule of law standards might pose financial risks.

“We are proposing a new mechanism that allows us to protect the budget from financial risks linked to general deficiencies in the state of rule of law,” Juncker said. He said this “doesn’t target any particular member state, but it is an important aspect of our new budgetary architecture.”

Poland has already slammed the idea.

Brussels wants agreement on the budget before elections to the European Parliament in May next year. Typically, budget debates take several months, with EU lawmakers demanding greater ambition while member states insist on cutting spending at European level. The budget must be approved by all EU member states unanimously and be endorsed by the assembly.

Early signs are that debate this time around could be as arduous as in the past. Spending on some programs was delayed and projects postponed by wrangling over the current package, which runs until 2020.

Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, welcomed the start of the budget debate - if not the Commission’s proposals themselves - by noting that it would have to come up with an average of 10 billion euros each year from 2021, even with a budget of 1 percent of output.

“We are willing to fulfill our responsibilities for strengthening the European Union, but this also requires a fair burden-sharing of all member states,” Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Foreign Minister Heiko Mass said Wednesday in a joint statement.

The Commission has estimated that Britain’s departure will cut budget contributions by around 12 billion euros ($14.4 billion) a year. Britain leaves the EU at the end of March 2019, but has agreed to pay its budget share until 2020.

The Commission plans to use Britain’s departure to phase out over five years any rebates that net contributors to the budget receive - Britain’s rebate was significant and hindered past budget negotiations.

David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.
The European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources Günther Oettinger formally unveils proposed budget rules for the European Union to run from 2021 to 2027.