By Anna McLauchlin - 10th February 2004
New budget proposals discriminate against new EU countries, the Austrian finance minister claimed on Tuesday.
Just hours before the European Commission presents a draft budget for 2007 to 2013, Karl-Heinz Grasser accused the EU of piling money into the rich west and ignoring the ten new, poorer, member states.
"The commission's proposal for regional funds where 50 per cent still remains in western countries is completely unacceptable," the minister raged.
"The question should be raised about what's happening to the money."
And Grasser vowed his country will "intervene for our eastern neighbours" during the upcoming debate over how the EU budget will be spent from 2007.
He also blasted the commission over plans which are expected to hike national contributions to the EU budget to around 1.22 per cent of GNI by 2013.
"It is unacceptable to require a reduction in national budgets but to swell the EU budget," he said.
"It is not our position that EU spending shouldn't increase, but what the commission is proposing is just too big."
As it stands, Brussels caps national contribution to EU funds at 1.24 per cent of GNI, but only around one per cent is used.
But the commission is expected to argue that 1.22 per cent of GNI should be the new cap and that this should be fully exploited.
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