The aim of the meeting of prime ministers or senior officials of 15 EU countries and Croatia, which is scheduled to join the Union on July 1, is to create pressure to prevent the reduction of funds for the Union's cohesion policy, which is aimed at eliminating the differences in the development of countries and regions. It is taking place amidst negotiations on the EU's 2014-20 budget.
Senior Croatian officials have said that regardless of the outcome of the budget negotiations, the amounts for Croatia in said term should remain as defined in the accession treaty.
The impact of Croatia's EU accession on the 2014-20 budget is EUR 13.741 billion in obligations and EUR 9.956 billion in actual payments. The majority, EUR 8.7 billion, comes from the cohesion funds.
The Friends of Cohesion group was created seven years ago and comprises Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Croatia joined in April and attends meetings as an observer.