The EU’s long term budget, that will determine spending from 2021-27, has been a sticking point for several months with a number of key areas still up for debate. But EU chiefs have warned an agreement must be reached in the coming weeks, in order to ensure the financial framework is put in place for the start of next year. Official talks will kick start on Thursday but it has been revealed that Austrian farmers are anxious of the outcome of the latest talks.
Josepf Moosbrugger, the President of the Chamber of Agriculture, said there is a “very worried mood” among Austrian farmers about how the budget talks will pan out.
He told APA the main concern lay with the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy.
He said: “It is about Austria’s agriculture being European champion when it comes to sustainability – and the rural development programme within the framework of the common agricultural policy plays a special role here.”
Currently, the Austrian agricultural market gets about €562million from the EU every year, which is then doubled to €1.1billion by the government.
But under the new budget proposals, Austria could see a cut of €82million to its annual contribution from the EU and the Ministry of Agriculture have warned that is a significant 15 percent loss.
Mr Moosbrugger said: “Any cuts mean that previous measures can no longer be implemented to the same extent.
“If you want services, you have to pay for them.”
He then said he hopes for “excellent” negotiations by Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
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As a result, State and European Minister Rainer Robra said that funds needed to be used as efficiently as possible.
The fears surrounding the upcoming budget talks come after it emerged the EU27 is facing a deficit of more than £166billion (€200billion) in its first post-Brexit budget.
Brexit will leave a vacuum worth between €12billion (£10million) and €15billion a year (£12.5billion), according to former EU Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger.
In order to cover the losses of Britain’s contributions, the European Commission has been pushing members to increase contributions to 1.11 percent as a share of gross national income (GNI).
The increase in funding has been met with severe opposition by the so-called “Frugal Five”, which includes Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
The five nations have demanded a cap on contributions to an increase of just one percent.
Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg