Czech PM ahead of EU summit: “We want changes in union’s budget”

The Czech Republic remains committed to lobbying for change in the way Europe will hand out financial support as part of its coronavirus relief fund, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said ahead of an EU summit of presidents and prime ministers set to start on Friday. The Czech government also wants greater EU budget flexibility so that countries are less committed to investing in environmental sustainability. The summit will be centred on the future EU budget and the crisis relief fund.

In May, the European Commission proposed a major EUR 750 billion recovery plan called Next Generation EU, which Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described as both supporting the union’s recovery, but also investing in Europe’s future by targeted investments into digitisation and the European Green Deal.

At the same time, EU member state leaders will be discussing the commission’s overall 2021-2027 budget.

The original conditions for funding support have been criticised by some member states, among them the Czech Republic. The European Council President Charles Michel has since lowered the unemployment level criterion needed for funding eligibility, which the Czech prime minister says he welcomes, but wants changes to go further.

Babiš said he does not like the fact that 30 percent of EU investment in the upcoming budget has been marked out for sustainability projects and wants greater freedom in how country’s choose to allocate money.