On 1 February 2020, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, took part in the European Union (EU) Friends of Cohesion Summit in Beja, Portugal. The Summit approved a declaration in which 15 Member States expressed a common position that no Member State should suffer a sharp and disproportional decrease of its Cohesion allocation in the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021–2027.
Representatives from the EU Member States recognised that, over the next financial planning period, the Cohesion Policy will not only be an instrument to promote socioeconomic convergence but also a significant support in pursuit of goals for mitigation of climate change.
Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica underlined that Latvia sees the future Cohesion Policy as the opportunity to promote economic growth of countries through the implementation of climate-friendly, sustainable and cutting-edge initiatives. The Latvian Foreign Ministry’s Parliamentary Secretary drew attention to the fact that only by ensuring sufficient funding for the Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy it would be possible to achieve the EU’s ambitious climate goals.
The Declaration adopted at the Summit underlines that the investment capacity coming along with the Cohesion Policy is crucial in providing answers to the challenges faced by the European Union. Therefore, the participants of the Summit are making a strong appeal to maintain the level of funding found in the 2014–2020 MFF with the Cohesion Policy for the upcoming period (2021–2027).
The participants called for a sufficiently ambitious, balanced and fair agreement on the EU long term budget. Its timely approval is a precondition for the start of the next generation of programmes, giving a clear sign for Europe’s economy.
Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica welcomed the unity of the Member States present at the Summit on the issue of the importance of the Cohesion Policy in the next financial planning period. The Friends of Cohesion Summit was held almost a month before the European Council of 20 February 2020, which is to address the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework for the period of 2021–2027.
As part of her visit, the Parliamentary Secretary also met with the Secretary of State of European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, Ana Paula Zacarias, to discuss the bilateral relations between Latvia and Portugal, the difficulties of drawing up and approving the EU’s multiannual budget, recent developments concerning the EU trade policy and the organisational aspects of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
See the full text of the Declaration here:
Background information
The Summit took place on the invitation of the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, and brought together representatives from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. The participants also included the President of the Government of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, in his capacity as Chairman of the Council of the EU; the European Commissioner for Budget and Administration, Johannes Hahn; and the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reform, Elisa Ferreira.