Estonia's share in new EU budget is EUR 5.89 billion euros

Photo: SCANPIX

European Union leaders have agreed on the union's framework budget for the next budgetary period the size of which is approximately 960 billion euros and the share of Estonia in it is 5.89 billion euros, the State Chancellery said on Friday.

The 960 billion euro budget for the period 2014-2020 was agreed by EU leaders at their marathon negotiations that ended late on Friday afternoon. The sum is just one percent of the bloc's gross domestic product.

Estonia will be one of the biggest net beneficiaries among the member states, the State Chancellery said.

"Despite the contraction in the budget's overall volume, Estonia can consider itself a clear winner in the negotiations," Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said after the end of the talks.

Estonia is one of the few member states whose net position improved compared with the Commission's interim offer made in November. The Estonian share in the new financial framework, 5.89 billion euros, is almost 907 million euros more than in the budget for 2007-2013.

Under the agreement reached, competition conditions for Baltic farmers will improve in the new fiscal period as inequality in treatment arising from the different size of direct payments will decrease remarkably, spokespeople for the government said.

"Although we didn't manage to fully get rid of inequality, farmers nevertheless have reason to be happy," Ansip said, explaining that the sum total of direct payments will double and payments per hectare will reach 75 percent of the European Union average by the end of the period.

For our farmers this means an estimated size of payments of at least 196 euros per hectare from 2020, compared with the present 143 euros that includes a contribution from the national budget, said Ansip.

Besides Estonia managed in Friday's negotiations to prevent a temporary reduction in the level of payments to farmers below the level of this year. Compared to the offer made in November Estonia received additionally 50.7 million euros, which gives the government the possibility to raise support for farmers to the level of Lithuania in 2014 and 2015, the release by the government press office said.

Contrary to what had been sought by the Baltic countries, the cut in rural development support compared with the current budgetary period was left in the financial framework. In the next budgetary period Estonia will get 721 million euros in rural development support. Total EU support for the Estonian agriculture is set to grow 41 percent.

An exception taking into account the fall of the economy in 2008 was left in force for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary that entitles them to greater amounts of money from cohesion policy funds relative to their GDP. The exception entitles Estonia to 350 million euros in additional funds.

In Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) 23 billion euros was left, of which 10 billion euros is for cohesion policy states. In the words of the head of the Estonian government, this means that one can go on with the Rail Baltic project.

Ansip said that in the future Estonia will no longer be an island energy or logistics wise. "Thanks to today's agreement the building of Rail Baltic is no longer just a dream but a realistic possibility," he said.

Now the question only remains when the Baltic countries and Poland are ready to start with the project, he said. The nearly 730 kilometer rail link would in the future connect Tallinn with the capital of Poland and from there on with Germany.

The Estonian head of government said he was pleased that it will be possible with the help of CEF to build also gas and energy infrastructures linking Estonia with Europe. More precisely, it will be possible to build a gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland and to plan a joint natural gas terminal for the region.

Despite cuts, the volume of investments aimed to increase the competitiveness of the European Union will increase 20 percent, including expenditures for research and development.