Oettinger travels to the Netherlands to discuss EU's next long-term budget

 In The Hague, the Commissioner will meet with the Dutch Minister of Finance Mr Wopke Hoekstra and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Stef Blok. The meetings with senior government representatives from the Netherlands are part of the ongoing efforts of the Commission to support the negotiations on the EU's next long-term budget towards an agreement in the autumn of this year. Ahead of his visit, Commissioner Oettinger said: “The EU needs an agreement on EU's next long-term budget as early as possible for the benefit of our entrepreneurs, farmers, researchers and students. The Commission is doing its best to make an autumn agreement a reality and we count on seeing all Member States – including the Netherlands – working towards the same objective. EU citizens expect results from us and we should be able to deliver.” On 2 May 2018, the Commission put forward a proposal for a modern, balanced and fair long-term budget to deliver on Europe's priorities as set out by Leaders in Bratislava in 2016 and in Rome in 2017. Since then, the Commission has worked hand in hand with the rotating Presidencies of the Council, and in close collaboration with the European Parliament, to take the negotiations forward. In line with the conclusions from the European Council meeting of 20 and 21 June 2019, an agreement is due before the end of the year. The Commission shares the firm believe that sticking to this timeline is essential, for the hundreds of thousands of students, farmers and researchers across Europe, as well as everybody else who benefits from the EU budget. To facilitate this objective, Commissioner Oettinger travelled earlier this summer to Finland, which currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU.

More information about why a timely agreement is of key importance is available here and here.