Trade Minister: Czechs to submit their own demands in EU budget talks

The Czech Trade Minister Milan Urban has said that the Czech Republic will submit its own demands at negotiations on the EU budget outlook for 2007-13. On Thursday Mr Urban, in Brussels, said demands could include asking for a longer period for the Czech Republic to draw EU funds. But, he stressed that the Czech government was interested in EU member countries reaching an overall consensus. In the coming days the British presidency will submit its own draft budget for the EU, notable for cuts made at the expense of the ten new EU member countries - including the Czech Republic - that joined last year. As it stands, the proposed cuts could mean a decrease of as much as 2 billion euros (around 2.3 billion US dollars) for the Czech Republic. In exchange, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is proposing easier terms for drawing funds.

The prime ministers of the Visegrad Group - the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary, have already criticised Mr Blair's planned cuts.