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President Ilves to Swedish Prime Minister: European Union’s current direct aid system is not sustainable

President Ilves to Swedish Prime Minister: European Union’s current direct aid system is not sustainable © Erik Peinar (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

07.06.2011

Today’s meeting between the President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, and the Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, focused on strengthening the European Union’s common market and on the establishment of an equal competition environment.

“The European Union’s common agricultural policy should remain or, more appropriately, become a policy, which is really common in essence and funded on common grounds,” the Estonian head of State said.

“Today’s system of direct aid is no longer sustainable and distorts competition within the European Union,” President Ilves emphasised. “We cannot agree with a situation in which the difference in direct aid levels may even differ by up to six times in different Member States.”

A situation in which all the Member States are expected to take equal liability within the euro zone, yet some will be receiving aid which is much bigger, is immoral and unfair – as the prices of tractors, fertilisers and cereal crop seeds are largely the same everywhere in the common market countries, explained the Estonian head of State.

According to President Ilves, Estonia wants the European Union direct aid to meet its real purpose, which is determined by what society or taxpayers want, together with what they are willing to pay for. This would also mean putting a greater emphasis on rural development policies.

The Baltic Sea Strategy as an opportunity to make the whole region and countries therein more successful and dynamic and energy security, where Estonia appreciates the importance of the decision of the Council of the European Union on the abolishment of energy islands by 2015 and the opportunity to use a part of the European Union budget to link up isolated areas were also discussed in length at the meeting between President Ilves and Prime Minister Reinfeldt.

 

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