Britannia Radio

We seem powerless already before the Lisbon Treaty!   That's quite apart from the lunacy of inventing ways of spending more money at a time like this. 

Christina 

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TELEGRAPH     26.10.09

Britain set to pay £5m more a day to the EU budget

British taxpayers have been asked to increase their contribution to the European Union to £50 million a day.

 

By Martin Banks in Brussels 

MEPs have voted to increase the British payments in 2010 against the advice of the European Commission and the European Council, which represents the bloc's 27 member states.

The increase would mean Britain funding the EU by an additional £5 million a day on top of its current annual net contribution of £4.1 billion.

 

The demand, which was condemned yesterday by the Conservatives and the UK Independence Party, will fuel the political debate over whether Britain benefits from being in the EU. More than 25 per cent of voters in this year's European elections backed parties that want to take Britain out of the EU.

The European Parliament, which has co-legislative powers on budgetary issues, is recommending that the EU budget for 2010 should rise from £106 billion this year to more than £116 billion. The budget has to be signed off by MEPs. The European Parliament and Council will now embark on what most expect to be protracted negotiations in an attempt to resolve the impasse.

More than two thirds of the EU budget goes on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and "structural funds" to Europe's poorer nations. Britain has a rebate to compensate for the high costs of the CAP, which benefits the country much less than others such as France because of its relatively small farming sector.

MEPs said the proposed budget rise was "absolutely necessary" to finance the EU-wide economic recovery plan.

But James Elles, the budgets spokesman for the Tory group of MEPs, said: "In the midst of a recession now was not the time to be putting extra billions on to the EU's budget."

The European Conservative and Reformist group, to which the Tories belong, unsuccessfully tabled an amendment supporting a lower figure suggested by the European Council.

Marta Andreasen, a UKIP MEP, said: "This is unbelievable at a time of financial and economic crisis. Is this the way the EU wants to bring the budget closer to citizens? It is all very nice to want to subsidise the Special Olympics in Poland and Greece and the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in the Czech Republic but our constituents have other priorities."

Laszlo Surjan, a Hungarian MEP whose report recommending an increase was adopted by MEPs late last week, forecast "very difficult and tough negotiations" with member states in an attempt to reach a compromise figure.

Treasury figures show that Britain is the EU's second biggest net contributor, behind Germany.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "It is important to stress that UK citizens benefit [from EU membership] in ways that are hard to quantify in cash, such as an improved environment and trade deals negotiated by the EU." [That’s the Foreign Office for you!  Never on OUR side  - awash with excuses for them -cs]