Diplomats say the Friday’s summit will mainly focus on filling a budget gap of around 10 billion euros caused by Great Britain’s withdrawal from the organization.
Ahead of the meeting, the Baltic states urged other EU nations to increase their contributions to the 2021 -2027 budget to keep the current level of the multiannual budget.
However, some Western European countries, such as the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria and Denmark, have refused to boost their share, saying that the post-Brexit budget should be smaller.
The Friday’s summit is not expected to produce any decisions, as the informal meeting is seen as an introduction to major talks where Lithuania will aim to secure higher payments for farmers, financing of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning and the so-called cohesion money, which is intended to narrow the lagging of poorer regions.