Agriculture, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

''Cyprus' budget proposals offer no progress in achieving fairer direct payments for farmers,'' Straujuma points out.

She accented that Baltic agriculture ministries and non-governmental organizations must continue to defend their interests, writes LETA.

''We need to insistently and constructively continue to justify the necessity to finally introduce fair direct payments to farmers, which would be at least 80 percent of the EU average for every country,'' the minister pointed out.

As reported, Cyprus, the current European Union presiding country, has presented its proposals regarding the EU multiannual budget for 2014-2020; compared to the European Commission's offer released this past summer, Cyprus proposes that the common agricultural policy funding be reduced by about EUR 7.5 billion or 2 percent, and the cohesion funding by about EUR 53 billion or 14 percent.

Cyprus proposes to distribute these funds among other EU budget programs.

However, the European Commission rejected the proposals earlier.

In the resolution that the EP passed last Tuesday, the EP said that, given the pressing need to secure public investment in growth and jobs, MEPs want the budget for cohesion policy and common agricultural policy to be maintained at least at the level of the 2007-2013 period.