Too long negotiations on EU multiannual budget would cost Latvia up to 1.5% of annual GDP growth – Foreign Ministry

RIGA – The EU every year in Latvia ensure up to 1.3-1.5% percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth that might be lost if negotiations on the EU multiannual budget for 2021-2027 last until 2021, said Foreign Ministry’s parliamentary secretary Zanda Kalnina-Lukasevica.

She underscored that it is important to reach an agreement on the multiannual budget by May 2019 because about two years would be necessary for development of the respective Latvian national regulations.

If the agreement on the EU multiannual budget is not reached by May 2019, EU investments in Latvia may then only flow in Latvia in the summer of 2022. It means 1.3-1.5 percent of the annual GDP growth, which is of great importance for the country’s welfare, wages and growth. A pause in EU funds absorption would also mean that people will go abroad for jobs, and later it is again difficult to find employees.

In the seven-year period Latvia has paid EUR 1.8 billion into the state budget, and received EUR 7.4 billion from EU funds, including EUR 4.7 billion in the cohesion policy, and EUR 2.7 billion in the agricultural policy.