“We held a discussion at the exhibition and agreed to hold a meeting on January 31. We will discuss and consider common positions. For the meantime, we have decided that it’s enough that we have stated our common position and have not signed the communiqué,” Jukna told BNS.
The meeting would be organized in Latvia, he said adding that the ministers would discuss their negotiation positions on bigger direct payments to the Baltic countries and would also decide whether to sign the communiqué.
Previously Jukna told BNS that the three countries would sign a communiqué on a common position of the Baltic countries in Berlin.
As proposed during the EU summit in late November, direct payments to Lithuanian farmers should reach at least 196 euros per hectare in 2020, more than proposed previously but less than demanded by farmers. The November summit ended without agreement on the bloc's next seven-year budget. Therefore, EU leaders will continue budget discussions during their next summit scheduled for February 7 to 8.
Direct payments to Lithuanian farmers are planned to be increased to 65 percent of the EU average in 2014-2020, from the current 50 percent. However, Baltic farmers want their payments to at least match the EU average.
