Commissioner Oettinger travels to Cyprus to discuss EU’s next long-term budget

Commissioner in charge of Budget and Human Resources, Günther H. Oettinger, is arriving in Cyprus today for a series of high-level meetings dedicated to the EU budget for 2021-2027. In Nicosia, the Commissioner will meet with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, with the Minister of Finance, Harris Georgiadis, and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Christodoulides. The meetings are part of the ongoing efforts of the Commission to take forward the negotiations on EU’s next long-term budget, in view of an agreement in the autumn of this year. Ahead of his visit, Commissioner Oettinger said: “The clock is ticking and the autumn is fast approaching. The Commission is working hard to make sure the next EU budget is agreed on time to the benefit of Europe’s entrepreneurs, farmers, researchers and everybody beyond our borders who counts on our valuable support. We are convinced that all our partners – including Member States and the European Parliament – are equally committed to this objective.” On 2 May 2018, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a modern, balanced and fair long-term budget to deliver on Europe’s priorities as set out by Leaders in Bratislava in 2016 and in Rome in 2017. Since then, the Commission has worked hand in hand with the rotating Presidencies of the Council, and in close collaboration with the European Parliament, to take the negotiations forward. In line with the conclusions from the European Council meeting of 20 and 21 June 2019, an agreement should be reached before the end of the year. The Commission shares the firm believe that sticking to this timeline is essential, for the hundreds of thousands of students, farmers and researchers across Europe, as well as everybody else who benefits from the EU budget. To facilitate this objective, Commissioner Oettinger travelled earlier this summer to Finland, which currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU. He also visitedthe Netherlands in August and travelled toPoland earlier this week.