Bulgaria To Debate European Budget, Future Of Bloc: Deputy PM

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Bulgaria to debate European budget, future of bloc: Deputy PM

Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev on Thursday said the forthcoming debate on the European budget for the period after 2020 would be a de facto debate on the future of Europe

SOFIA, Sept 21 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Sep, 2017 ) : Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev on Thursday said the forthcoming debate on the European budget for the period after 2020 would be a de facto debate on the future of Europe.

"Any argument in favor of the adoption of a stronger, more concentrated budget means that we believe more in Europe as a political and economic construction," Donchev said while addressing a roundtable discussion on the future of the European Union (EU) agricultural policy after 2020.

Donchev said the current EU budget for the period 2014-2020 is the only EU budget that's smaller than the previous one. Donchev, who was Minister of EU Funds Management from 2010 to 2013, warned that the consumption approach and arguments did not usually work.

"As a participant in previous EU budget negotiations, I want to tell you that consumption arguments have no added value and have even the opposite effect," Donchev said. The strongest arguments were those that were rational, and referred to European benefits, he said.