European budget to be discussed

Charles Michel, European council president, has asked around 17 heads of state and government, including Slovak Prime minister Peter Pellegrini, to meet with him in preparation for a special meeting of the European Council that will begin on 20 February 2020. During the meeting on Tuesday, the prepared budget of the European Union for the years 2021 to 2027 is to be discussed. Slovakia's priority, along with other members of the Friends of Cohesion group who met in Portugal on Saturday, is to maintain financial resources at the level of the previous budget. The loss of British contributions to the budget could create a gap of around € 12 billion each year. Over a period of seven years, the loss to the common EU budget could add up to around € 84 billion.