V4 leaders in Prague: Orbán calls for fair EU budget

The European Union budget proposal put forward by the outgoing European Commission is “unfair”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Prague on Tuesday. “We want justice,” he said.

After the Friends of Cohesion summit held together with Visegrad Group leaders, Orbán said the proposal under discussion across Europe contained faults that could be laid at the doorstep of the outgoing commission.

Orbán identified changes needed before the budget could be declared fair.

He said rebates should be scrapped because if member states’ rebates were recalculated taking into account the size of its payments in relation to its national product, “then we get a completely unfair picture”.

Further, the fact that much of the funding received by central European countries “goes back” to western member states should be taken into consideration in the budget proposal, he said.

Moreover, it was unfair to reduce cohesion funds on the basis that “the poorer someone is, the more money they lose, while the richer loses less”.

Orbán also called for more flexibility in the budget.

The commission’s proposal “goes in the opposite direction,” he added.

“Nevertheless, we’re optimistic,” he said, adding that “fortunately” two of the Visegrad premiers are former finance ministers.

The prime minister insisted that the EU’s Horizon R and D programme was especially unfair as 95 percent of its financing was ploughed into “old” member states. He said “a national element” should be introduced in this respect.