A loose alliance of 16 countries spanning southern and eastern Europe has launched a push to beef up the bloc’s next long-term budget and for the EU to approve new common debt, according to a joint statement issued Monday.
The grouping includes the likes of Poland, Italy, Spain and Portugal. According to the statement, seen by Euractiv ahead of a meeting of European affairs ministers on Tuesday, a “more gradual repayment scheme” for the EU’s post pandemic recovery fund and “new joint borrowing for loan support” should remain on the table as the institutions haggle over the bloc’s 2028 to 2034 budget.
What’s more, the current EU budget structure which includes Cohesion Policy – used to finance infrastructure in poorer and peripheral areas of the EU – along with the Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy should be protected, the countries working together under the ‘Friends of Cohesion’ umbrella argue.
Decisions around how to spend such cash…
