Croatian Finance Minister Slavko Linic signed the joint declaration together with his counterparts from Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia.

The Commission has proposed a draft budget for 2013 with 150.9 billion euros in commitments, which is an increase of 2% in nominal terms in relation to this year's budget. The draft foresees 137.9 billion euros in payment appropriations, or 6.8 per cent more than this year.

Several countries are opposed to the increase, claiming that in the present time of crisis and with budget cuts in the member states the EU budget must also be reduced. The Commission says that this is due to the earlier commitments that were voted in by the member states themselves.

The finance ministers of the 10 member states and Croatia as an acceding country said in their declaration that EU efforts and modest public resources should focus first and foremost on growth and employment, adding that in that context the cohesion policy had a key role for investment to overcome the crisis.

It is of crucial importance to honour the previous commitments that were unanimously accepted by all member states by adopting the present Financial Perspective, the 11 ministers said.

Political discussions on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the 2014-2020 period are expected in June, when concrete figures would be discussed.