German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday that European Union (EU) countries have to address financial questions linked to enlargement as the bloc considers different reform ideas.
The German leader said this as he arrived at an EU summit in Granada, Spain.
EU countries paid into a common budget, some of which was redistributed to benefit economically weaker regions.
Currently many eastern and central European countries profit from the system, but could lose their privilege if weaker economies were to join.
“Everyone knows that it cannot remain the case that all countries that receive net payments today can count on this being the case in the future,’’ Scholz said.
“They will have to contribute to financing the economic growth processes in the accession countries,’’ he added.
Farmers across the bloc also receive subventions from the common budget.
Should Ukraine with its big agricultural sector join the bloc, all EU states could be impacted financially.
