ZAGREB, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The priority of Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) is to reach an agreement on a multi-annual financial framework for the period 2021 to 2027 as soon as possible, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday.
Plenkovic made the remarks when, together with Finance Minister Zdravko Maric, met here with representatives of the Committee on Budgets (BUDG) of the European Parliament.
The prime minister said the coming months are key to the deal and that Croatia will contribute and work closely with European Council President Charles Michel to reach a compromise between EU member states ahead of the Feb. 20 summit in Brussels.
Maric told the representatives of BUDG that Croatia supports the creation of a budgetary framework that will be realistic but also efficient enough to meet all the needs and priorities of the EU, as well as all citizens of the member states.
Committee Chairman Johan Van Overveldt, who also chairs the European Parliament's budgetary negotiation team, also believes that the following months are crucial to reaching an agreement.
"A constructive solution must be found very quickly so that even after Brexit, when there will be far less money in the budget, a multi-annual financial framework that will satisfy all citizens could be adopted," said Johan Van Overveldt after the meeting.