Brussels, Feb 20 (CTK correspondent) – The Czech Republic is very likely to increase its annual contribution to the European Union budget after 2020 because of Britain’s departure from the EU, Czech Finance Minister Alena Schillerova told journalists today after meeting with her counterparts from EU member states.
However, discussion about the long-term EU budget outlook is just beginning, she said.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s attitude towards the possibility of a higher Czech contribution was rather disapproving when he was in Brussels at the end of January.
Heads of state or government of 27 EU countries will talk about the future of EU money at an informal meeting in Brussels on Friday.
Britain, quitting the EU at the end of March 2019, has agreed to do everything it had committed itself to by the end of 2020.
Brexit could cost the EU budget up to EUR13bn (Kc325bn) as Britain is a net giver, European Commissioner for budget Gunther Oettinger said.
Such a gap cannot be filled by savings, with the EU focusing on both traditional areas and new challenges, the European Commission said.
Oettinger and Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European Commission, have started talking about new EU budget sources.