Minister of State Werner Hoyer issued the following statement today in reaction to the presentation of the Budget Review by the European Commission:

”The aim of discussing the EU’s future financial framework cannot be to give the EU additional funds. What matters is for the EU to use the funds it already has more intelligently. Moreover, if we need more money for joint European future projects, this has to be freed up by reallocation. The central issue driving the forthcoming negotiations must be Europe’s added value.

A future-oriented Europe that seeks to hold its own in competition with other regions of the world needs a future-looking budget, one which invests in common projects rather than cementing the past. The German Government therefore welcomes the intention to provide more funds for strengthening European education, research and innovation and for expanding technical infrastructure.

I welcome the presentation of the Budget Review by the European Commission. That report and the resulting Council discussion will set the course for the negotiations on the
2014–2020 EU financial framework due to begin next year. The Federal Foreign Office, in a cross-ministry working group under my chairmanship, has initiated the Federal Government’s preparations for the budget negotiations.“