EU-leiders zetten hakken in het zand voor komende budget-onderhandelingen (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Positions on the EU budget for 2007-2013 are hardening ahead of the meeting of EU leaders next week, when they are supposed to reach a compromise on the thorny issue.

Foreign ministers from the 25-member bloc will have an informal meeting on Sunday (12 June) to discuss the future spending of the EU, but the tone of the meeting has been set by some EU leaders in the run up to Sunday.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has sent a letter to the Luxembourg EU presidency, saying that Italian demands about regional aid have not been met, and warning that he would use his country's veto, if this did not change.

Mr Berlusconi is to meet the current head of the EU, Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, on Thursday evening to call for a modification of the presidency's budget proposal.

Natural "strategy"

The European Commission said this "strategy" was part of the negotiations.

"Now, the negotiations are actually up and running and we have one more week to go [before the European summit], and I think it is quite natural that you will see different strategies from different countries", said a spokesperson referring to the letter.

"And we will see next Friday evening [at the end of the summit] if that was a good strategy or not", she added.

Italian foreign minister Gianfranco Fini had also warned earlier that Italy would not hesitate to use a veto on the budget proposal.

"The present proposal of the Luxembourg presidency represents an intolerable cut in the funds earmarked for cohesion policies and if it is not modified Italy will draw the inevitable consequence by vetoing it", Mr Fini, who is also deputy prime minister, said on Tuesday (7 June).

"Italy will not accept any agreement so damaging to its national interests", he added, according to Italian agency Ansa.

Italy is particularly unhappy with the cuts the presidency's proposal would make in the area of structural funds, which would mean that the country would lose around €7 to €8 billion in aid for its poorest regions, the Mezzogiorno, in the south of Italy.

The Luxembourg presidency's budget proposal for 2007-2013 sets the limits at 1.06 percent (€871 billion) of the European gross national income in commitments and 1.00 percent (€824 billion) in payments.

The figures proposed by the presidency are below those suggested by the European Commission (respectively 1.24 percent in commitments and 1.14 percent in payments), and mean that substantial cuts will have to be made in several areas - the rural development fund being one of them.

British rebate

After appearing to be going towards a compromise on the British rebate during an interview with the Financial Times earlier this week, UK prime minister Tony Blair then sent out a tough message on Wednesday.

"The UK rebate will remain and we will not negotiate it away. Period", Mr Blair said before parliament.

Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac called on Britain to "make a gesture of solidarity" over its rebate, while talking to journalists in Luxembourg on Thursday (9 June).

"The time has come for our British friends to understand that they must now make a gesture of solidarity", he was quoted as saying by Forbes agency.

But although calling for a gesture from the British, Mr Chirac excluded a compromise on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as France is one of the countries to benefit the most from it.

"We cannot accept any reduction whatsoever of the direct aids to our farmers", he said.

If EU leaders fail to agree the EU's budget next week, it is likely to lead to a stronger perception that Europe is in crisis and can no longer take decisions following the double rejection of the constitution last week.