Czaputowicz: EU draft budget a good basis for negotiations

The EC-authored draft of the European Union's budget for the 2021-2027 funding period is a good foundation for further negotiations, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said on Monday. "The funds, which are of key importance for us, namely, Cohesion Policy and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), have been reduced to a lesser degree. New ways of financing new activities have been proposed, and Poland will benefit from them," Czaputowicz said. Referring to the proposal to tie access to EU funds to compliance with standards regarding the rule of law, the minister said: "I fear that the rule of law is being used to exert pressure on central European countries. This has also been caused by pressure exerted on leaders, by some western European nations, to reduce these funds and spend them more effectively."