• Conte: "We want a more ambitious Europe"
  • Brussels, EU Council: compromise on a multi-annual budget, plenary meeting
  • EU budget, Sassoli: unacceptable proposal
  • The extraordinary Council on the EU budget in Brussels. Gentiloni: "More ambition is needed"

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February 21, 2020 "Italy has received the mandate, together with Romania and Portugal, to draw up a counter-proposal in line with a more ambitious plan" for the European Union budget. This was said by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the end of the Brussels summit closed without agreement. "There is a lot to work on and we will work in the next few days to work out a counter-proposal, for a more ambitious Europe. The prospect is to rigorously apply the criterion of solidarity, which Italy applies widely", he continues. "There is a lot to work on. These principles can also be affirmed with adequate and consequent financial instruments"

Von der Leyen: "There is little time left"
"Time is short" to reach an agreement on the EU's 2021-2027 budget and not run the risk of losing funding for Erasmus or for the poorest regions. This was the warning launched by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during a press conference after the failure of the extraordinary budget summit. Von der Leyen recalled that in addition to the multiannual financial framework, legislation to implement should also be negotiated. Without a short-term agreement, "for 2021 we will not have a budget. This means no Erasmus, no aid for the regions: This is democracy. We have 27 Member States with 27 different different interests", added the Commission President.

"It is a good tradition in a democracy - he underlines - to discuss different points of view, the different emphases, the different focuses presented by the different Member States, be it cohesion, agriculture or new priorities. I believe that this summit is was very important and in no case should we have renounced it. It was the first time that we talked in such a detailed way about the individual position of the 27, thus looking to the future. We talked about the position of each country on each political sector and it was the first once the interests have been explained so concretely. It was extremely important to have this starting point and then arrive at what the budget will be. These 48 hours have been used to the fullest. "

Michel: "It takes more time"
EU Council President Charles Michel said that "unfortunately today we found that an agreement could not be reached. We need more time. We will need informal consultations in the coming days, I am convinced that everything is on the table and at a technical level we are ready. The question is whether we can reach an agreement between the 27, since each country has its own specific interests ":

Merkel: "We don't know when we will meet again"
"'The differences in position are too large for an agreement and we have suspended the summit." Angela Merkel said it adding that "it was not clearly indicated when we will meet again, this is a job that will be up to the President of the EU Michel".

Macron: "There was no ambition"
"I'm sorry we couldn't find an agreement, we defended Pac, the outermost regions, defense and digital space, that is, the new EU priorities. There was no unanimity for ambition, we work in the coming months for an agreement". French President Emmanuel Macron said so.

Amendola: "The budget must be more ambitious"
The multiannual financial framework "must be ambitious. Instead, in these 2 days the positions of some countries and of President Michel have not been up to the challenge. Italy has not supported the agreement because it has at heart the defense of interest national and a Europe that does not fall back on itself ". The Minister for European Affairs, Vincenzo Amendola, wrote from Brussels on Twitter, on the sidelines of the extraordinary Council on the EU multi-annual budget.