Prime Minister Janez Jansa has said that Slovenia's first impressions about the informal proposal by Great Britain for the 2007-2013 spending plan are positive.
Speaking about the proposal Britain sent at the weekend to the member states, Jansa said: "Our first assessments are that this is a positive development, if nothing else because we finally got a proposal and we can begin negotiations." "The proposal is fairly close to what was hailed as being a possible compromise by most member states in June in Luxembourg," Jansa said on the margins of Monday's summit of EU and Southern Mediterranean countries in Barcelona.
Jansa also said that the proposal envisages a small cut in spending on development aid. "However, we are confident that the negative effect of this can be neutralised in talks on other items."
According to him, progress in EU budget talks will now depend on how well the EU will take advantage of any room for maneuver in talks.
He admitted that countries that want a deal before the end of the year, including Slovenia, are in a vulnerable position. "Other countries, including those in charge of the negotiations, are aware that we are in a hurry," he said.
Jansa would not venture a guess about the possibility that an agreement could be hammered out at December's summit.
The proposal, said Jansa, has been met with a mixed response: while some countries are fairly pessimistic, for example France, others are more optimistic given that Britain's proposal has exceeded expectations.
Jansa held talks on Britain's proposal with a number of counterparts from the EU on the margins of the meeting in Barcelona.
Meanwhile, Jansa is expected to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on 8 December to discuss the spending plan.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|