The current EC proposal for the EU long-term budget, together with the economic recovery fund, is a good basis for discussion, says Rinkēvičs. In his view, it is a better offer than it was in February, particularly in connection with cohesion and rural development policy.
At the same time, he noted significant issues with direct payments to farmers:
"In our understanding, they are still inadequate and not in line with fair principles of budget breakdown."
An additional €26 billion will be allocated to farmers in the European Union's budget. For the time being, it is not clear how much of this could be obtained by Latvia.
The discussions are still ongoing, and the politician hopes that the agreement will be reached by September.
