Finland open to bigger EU budget after Brexit
HELSINKI, FINLAND: Finland is open to a proposal for EU members to pay more into the bloc's budget after 2020 to fill a Brexit void, the Nordic country's government confirmed Thursday.
"We can move around this one percent both up and down, depending on the concrete issues where the money will be spent," Finland's Minister for European Affairs Sampo Terho said at a press conference in Helsinki, distancing Finland from its Nordic neighbours, its usual reference group.
Sweden and Denmark, together with the Netherlands and Austria, have been branded as the 'percentage group' for their opposition to any increase in the EU budget beyond the current level of one percent of the member countries' combined gross domestic product.
EU Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, who is touring different member countries to seek backing for the budget increase, seemed satisfied with the reception he received in Helsinki for his bid.
"My feeling is that our package is not in confrontation (with Finland's position). It is near your expectation priorities," Oettinger said in Helsinki, less than a week before the EU Commission's official budget proposal is due to be published on May 2.
Oettinger has suggested contributions to be increased to between 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent of GDP from the current level of one percent of GDP in the 2014-2020 budget.
Oettinger warned Britain's exit could leave a hole of as much as between 12 and 13 billion euros ($15-15.8 billion) a year.
The Commission hopes the new budget for the years 2021-2027 can be approved before the European Parliament elections next year but at latest in 2020 when the current budget expires.