Europese ministers en staatssecretarissen komen bijeen voor informele ontmoeting (en)

The negotiations of the EU i’s new seven-year budget for the period 2014-2020 will be at the centre of discussions on Thursday, August 30, when European Ministers and State Secretaries for European Affairs convene in Lefkosia (Nicosia) for their informal meeting.

The meeting, which will be chaired by the Cypriot Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Ambassador Andreas D. Mavroyiannis, will look to further advance the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), with its timely conclusion constituting one of the Cyprus Presidency’s top priorities.

The discussions will be exclusively dedicated to the issue of the MFF and will be based on an Issues Paper developed by the Presidency after a series of bilateral meetings with all Member States that took place in July. The meeting will look to build on the work done following the bilateral meetings, ahead of the General Affairs Council meeting on September 24.

The European Commissioner for inter-institutional relations and administration, Mr. Maroš Šefčovič and Mr. Janusz Lewandowski i, the European Commissioner responsible for financial programming and budget will attend the meeting. The negotiating team of the European Parliament headed by the Chairman of the Budget Committee, Mr. Alain Lamassoure will also participate at the afternoon session of the meeting.

“We expect to have a real discussion and an honest exchange of views among Member States. The presence of the negotiating team of the European Parliament and the Commission will be an opportunity for substantial discussion with all stakeholders involved to reach a common understanding,” stated the Deputy Minister.