Hungary’s finance minister has said that the financing of the Eurozone cannot surpass the long-term interests of the European Union.
During an extended meeting of the Eurogroup, the finance ministers of the Eurozone, in Brussels, Mihály Varga said that given the weight of the issue, Eurozone financing - a separate budget within the overall EU budget - must be unanimously agreed upon by the heads of state and government of all EU member states.
According to Rmx.news, the Finance Ministry said in a statement that the heads of state agreed last December to work out an appropriate budget for the Eurozone. While this was originally a joint German-Finnish proposal, it was different in its final form from the original.
Within the larger European Union budget, this will be a separate means of ensuring the long-term competitiveness and convergence of the Eurozone. Varga said that during the negotiations, Hungary will insist on establishing the new budget within the EU's multi-annual financial framework (MFF) and that all decisions be made with the full consensus of all 27 member states, taking into account the interests of the nations that are not part of the Eurozone.
Varga also said that any separate financing of the Eurozone can only be in addition to the existing policies and financing mechanisms of the European Union, either through increasing the overall budget of the EU or through additional contributions of the Eurozone states. Hungary does not support the usage of the existing EU financing framework for such purposes, Varga said.