Juncker 'open for discussion' about EU discount

brussels - The European Commission is open to a discussion with the member states that risk losing their annual EU discount after 2020, such as the Netherlands. According to President Jean-Claude Juncker, the leaders of these countries are 'unwilling to accept that with the departure of the British also the discounts will disappear. I know this gives some frustration, but that's how it goes. '

Prime Minister Rutte responded sharply to the proposal to increase the multi-annual budget from 2021 to 2027 by nearly 300 billion euros to around 1300 billion. The brexit creates an annual gap of around 13 billion euros. If the annual discount of one billion disappears, the bill for the Netherlands will rise unacceptably high, Rutte believes. Brussels wants to reduce the discounts in five years.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher negotiated a permanent discount on the EU contribution in 1984. As a result, other countries had to pay more, such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Sweden. They were eventually compensated for this. This has been the case since 2005 for the Netherlands. Now that the British are leaving the EU, the other discounts will logically disappear, according to Brussels.

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