The EU Budget Commissioner told Prime Minister Joseph Muscat he hopes "acceptable compromises" will be reached between Brussels and Malta as fresh proposals for the upcoming EU seven-year budget are hammered out.
During a meeting at Castille on Friday morning, Günther Oettinger said that so far, 90 per cent of the "analysis" put forward by Malta tallied with what was being discussed in Brussels.
The Commissioner noted that he was interested in hearing about Malta's expectations to better understand what rules and scenarios were regarded as acceptable.
While the European Commission is expected to make its position on the Budget for after 2020 known in May, observes who spoke to Times of Malta last week said Malta might struggle to retain the financing that had been allocated in the last agreement.
Read: Malta facing hefty cut in EU funding
In his comments, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he looked forward to the May proposals, pointing out that the next multi-annual financial framework needed to be “ambitious”.
"This should not be about percentages but about objectives. We need to be ambitious, but realistic,” the Prime Minister told Mr Oettinger.
He insisted that the end game should not be about “winners and losers” but every member state should feel that they have achieved something.