EU budget talks 'without taboos'

Poland's minister for European affairs Mikolaj Dowgielewicz has said there will be no “taboo” subjects during the talks, a key event organised by Poland's six-month EU presidency, which are unique as they bring members of national parliaments into the discussion.

“For the first time in history, the EU will discuss its budget with national parliamentarians,” Dowgielewicz told reporters on Wednesday.

The conference will be opened by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and president of the European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek.

The talks, Dowgielewicz said, will be no-holds barred.

“We are not afraid of difficult topics and we want to talk openly about all the political dilemmas that arise during debates within individual nations.”

The debate for the EU budget 2014-20 has divided rich and poor nations in the 27-nation bloc, with countries like Poland intent on retaining aid budgets of up to 336 billion euros for so-called “cohesion policy” funding, of which Poland is the largest recipient (80 billion euros).

Richer nations such as the UK will try to get the budget proposed earlier this year by the European Commission of 972 billion euros to be reduced as they have to cut spending at national level as part of austerity measures required to fight the finance crisis. (pg)