Slovenia has joined a group of 16 EU member states in a forum where views are exchanged on the EU's next financial perspective, State Secretary in charge of European affairs Marcel Koprol said in Brussels on Monday. "This is an informal group, an open forum for exchanging positions," Koprol said.
European ministers of these countries met at Brdo pri Kranju on Thursday and formed certain positions, which were presented by Koprol to the Luxembourg presidency of the EU at the session of the EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
The 17 EU member states backed the European cohesion policy at the meeting, called for an agreement on the new financial perspective to be reached by June and supported the part of the perspective that refers to the support for the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy, according to Koprol. The state secretary announced that the group would meet again at the beginning of March in Riga.
Koprol rejected suggestions that this was a genuine coalition that would stand up against the six major net contributors to the EU budget that would like to cap the EU spending at 1% GNP in the talks on the EU's financial arrangements between 2007 and 2013.
"This is a purely informal exchange of opinions," said Koprol, adding that it had been agreed that no document would be drafted.
The 17 member states include ten new EU member states, Spain, Portugal and Greece, as well as active observers Italy, Belgium, Ireland and Finland.
Koprol on Monday in Brussels attended the session of EU foreign ministers in the part that discussed the aspect of financial perspective that touches on the support for the implementation of Lisbon Agenda to increase growth and employment. He said Slovenia expressed reservations over the formation of a special fund for the adjustment of growth.
The fund, with a budget of EUR 2bn, is foreseen as a flexibility instrument to where undistributed money from the cohesion fund would be transfered as well. The growth and employment item, meanwhile, is to represent 13% of all funds or EUR 122bn for the next seven-year budget period.
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