Something never changes soon. The fabled EU gravy train, those fancy cars, long lunches, chocolate and beer filled Brussels lifestyle, all of it, a permanent source of indignation and anger to Euro skeptics.
In times of plenty, when European economies were booming, no one cut back on the EU budget. Now in times of austerity, one mighty expect a different approch. But in fact, David Cameron's last-ditch real guard action is an attempt to enforce not a cut, not a freeze, but just a lower increase in the budget that is likely to be approved.
At a time when European countries including the United Kindom are taking tough dicisions on their budgets, and having to cut some departments. It's completely wrong that European Institution should be spending more money on themseleve in the way they propose. Six percent is not acceptable, I want to build the alliance, work with colleagues put a stop to that, and see if we can see something better. And that is what I'm gonna do today.
The European Commission and indeed the European Parliament want to see a rise in the EU budgets of six percent. That would represent an increase British contribution of nine hundred million pounds. But David Cameron is pretty much resign to accept an increase of two point nine percent.
But even that, it's five hundred million pounds more, not a sort of thing that's going to make British government departments happy when they are facing a cut of nineteen percent on average over the coming four years.
It did seem extrordinary that at the very moment that George Osborne was on his feet in the House of Commons announcing the most significant budget retrenchment since 1920s to deal with the deficit. But at that moment, MEPs were recalling for these huge increases to pay for among other things more stuff for themselves and higher entertainment budgets for European Commissioners.
The problem for David Cameron is that the budget isn't even on the former agenda for the summit. And other European leaders are intensely preoccupied by controversial plans to impose strick new fiscal rules on the Euro Zone.
The rules are being drawn up to ensure no other country should get into the sort of trouble Greece has, provoking riots internally and a bailout from its European neighbors.
This is an argument where Britain is on the sidelines and wants it to stay that way. But the wrangling is so intense that it might be hard for the British Prime Minister to draw the argument back toward what he thinks are more important this years. |