“We want this to be a fair budget. The talks will certainly be tough, but they will end well or very well for Poland,” Morawiecki told reporters. In this context he said that Poland and numerous other countries suggested the discontinuation of special provisions for some EU members to make the EU budget fairer for all.

Asked if anyone of the EU members backed the Finnish presidency’s budget proposals envisaging further funding cuts, Morawiecki said that “the Finnish presidency was pleased with its proposals but most countries were displeased with them,” and stressed that Poland was among the displeased countries.

Morawiecki underlined that the growth of the EU single market and the European idea in general called for more outlays, and said that at the summit he postulated raising agricultural funding for the Central-East European countries to the Western European level.

“If we want more Europe and more of the single market, we must channel more funding to it,” Morawiecki said.

Commenting the EU’s climate goals, Morawiecki said Poland understood their importance but awaited compensation for the efforts required to achieve them. He added that at the summit Poland proposed that the EU cooperate on climate with international organisations as the EU countries’ greenhouse emissions accounted for no more than 10 percent of the global level.

Commenting on the recent Brexit agreement between Britain and the EU, Morawiecki said the achieved compromise secured the interests of British-residing Poles and Polish enterprise. He also voiced hope for its passage through the British House of Commons, observing that this would end the “ratification crisis” around Brexit.

Morawiecki deplored the summit’s failure to reach decisions on launching accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia, and called the EU’s stance in the matter a sign that the European spirit was on the wane. He especially blamed the leading Western European countries for stalling the issue, and reminded that the EU was obliged to launch the accession talks.

“This shows how weak the European spirit is in some countries, especially in Western Europe, because several of the wealthiest countries are blocking these talks, to which, by the way, the EU has obliged itself,” Morawiecki said.