Brussels, 22/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - In a press release, CSU MEP Ingo Friedrich urges the German government, in negotiations over the EU's Financial Perspectives scheduled to be launched in January 2004, to not repeat the 1999 error when as President of the Council Gerhard Schroeder had missed the opportunity, in the adoption of the EU's Financial Perspectives for 2000-2006, to get a reduction in Germany's financial contribution to the EU budget, which the CSU Vice-President described as 'unforgivable'.
Friedrich acknowledges that in recent years, Germany's contribution to the EU budget has fallen in percentage terms, but he points out that Germany still pays the highest net contribution (EUR 5.9 billion for the 2002 budget) and therefore welcomed the letter by six net contributors to the EU's budget (in decreasing order: Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Sweden and Austria) calling for the maximum contribution to the EU's budget to be set at 1% of gross national income. Two other net contributors (Italy, which stands in third position after the Netherlands, and Denmark, which makes the smallest net contribution) did not sign the letter (see Europe of 17 December, p.8).