The leaders of 17 member states of the European Union, including the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, have signed a joint letter in which they demand to keep intact the Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy in the face of the proposed reductions put forward by the countries considered 'frugal', such as Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Finland, and Sweden, regarding the community accounts for 2028-2034.
The document, which also bears the signatures of the heads of state and government of Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Hungary, states, in contrast to those proposals, that both policies "are more relevant than ever."
The letter reminds that both the Cohesion Policy and the CAP have "repeatedly adapted to new economic and social realities while remaining faithful to the objectives of the EU Treaty" and "generate direct and indirect benefits for the economies of the entire European Union."
Furthermore, the text emphasizes that these policies "contribute to the competitiveness and food security of Europe, while providing tangible support to millions of European citizens and demonstrating the added value of common European spending," the letter adds. "Reducing them further," warn the EU leaders, "would not modernize the EU budget, it would only weaken it and run the risk of undermining public support for the European project."
Therefore, the signatories agree that "the overall funding for the cohesion policy and the CAP must be preserved" in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), whose budgets are already facing a key negotiation phase.
Meanwhile, the so-called 'frugal' have increased pressure in recent weeks and have warned that the next community budget will have to cut "several hundred billion euros" from the "unrealistic" proposal of the European Commission in order to reach an agreement among the Twenty-Seven.