Spain and Portugal share views on the issue of the European Union’s budget that are similar to those of the V4. They agree that cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy should not fall victim to Brexit, the Minister of State for EU Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office told the Hungarian news agency MTI in a telephone interview on Friday.
Szabolcs Takács said from Wednesday to Friday he had talks in Spain and Portugal with government officials responsible for EU affairs where they discussed the most topical EU affairs currently on the agenda, including in particular the latest developments related to and the preparations for the next fiscal cycle of the European Union.
He recalled that the European Commission had recently released its preliminary position regarding the EU’s post-2020 budget, the so-called multiannual financial framework. The heads of state and government of Member States will discuss this next Friday as part of an informal EU summit, Mr Takács said.
He highlighted that in many respects Spain and Portugal share views that are similar to those of the V4. Our positions are very much alike: we all believe that it is necessary to identify first and foremost what the EU should use its expenditures for, and to then determine the size of its budget, he said.
It is a crucial question how the deficit that will emerge after Britain’s departure could be replaced, pointed out Mr Takács who believes that everyone is open to raising their fiscal contributions should the need emerge.
Similar to the V4, the Portuguese and the Spanish, too, believe that the common policies of the EU which have already proved their worth as policies that create an added European value, such as cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy, should not fall victim to Brexit. It is important that the goals of these two policies as laid down in the EU Treaties should continue to remain valid, Mr Takács stressed, adding that they agreed to cooperate closely on the matter.
He said during the talks the parties also consulted with respect to the protection of their countries’ transport sectors as the amended Posted Workers Directive conveyed the threat of creating a highly negative legal situation for transport sectors. Mr Takács said they would like to come to a reassuring solution to this problem during the Bulgarian Presidency.
The Minister of State also pointed out that Portugal and Spain are similarly affected by Brexit inasmuch as there are substantial Spanish and Portuguese communities living in the United Kingdom, while there is a considerable Hungarian community as well. We all have a vested interest in coming to an agreement that is equally fair for Britain and the EU, he stressed.
In the context of the issue of migration, Mr Takács highlighted that Spain, similar to Hungary, is a country with external Schengen borders, and the parties agreed that these Member States bear a special and specific responsibility as by protecting their external borders they protect the whole of the EU.
We share the same interests and views in that the rest of the Member States must fully respect these external border protection efforts, Mr Takács said.
He also said that their views on the management of the migration crisis are likewise very similar: the protection of the external borders, the management of problems outside EU borders and the maintenance of free internal movement within the Schengen Area are interests that both Hungary and Spain share.
Mr Takács told MTI that during his three-day visit he met with Ana Paula Zacarias, Secretary of State of European Affairs of the Portuguese government, José Luis Carneiro, Secretary of State of Portuguese Communities Abroad, Jorge Toledo, Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union, Eva Valle, Director of the Economic Office of the Prime Minister, and José Antonio Nieto, State Secretary for Security of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.