The EU budget for cohesion policy should not be reduced
09 February 2012 News
For Bulgaria, it is crucial that funding in the EU budget is not reduced below the amount that will help reduce disparities in the development of European regions, Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov said at a meeting with Maroš Šefčovič, Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration.
"The Cohesion Policy is a tool for achieving the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy,” Foreign Minister Mladenov said.
He added that Bulgaria was insisting on an increase in the appropriations for nuclear safety and decommissioning of nuclear facilities to enable EU member states to fulfill their commitments.
Another focus of the discussion was the Multi-annual Financial Framework, in particular reform of EU staff regulations.
Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister emphasised that in the context of the current crisis, it is not sufficient that member states alone take on budget constraints at national level, wage freezes in their public administrations and adherence to strict fiscal discipline, but EU institutions too should take this route. It is vital that all EU member states should be treated equally, Minister Mladenov said.