Will we ever know whether Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne successfully cut the £1.7 billion (€2.1bn) payment we ‘owe’ the European Union? It’s anyone’s guess. Whilst it has been widely reported the British rebate will cut the bill in half, the intricate and secretive nature of the EU’s finances will make it difficult to ever be sure – after all, the European Court of Auditors hasn’t signed off on Brussels’ accounts for 19 years! In the furore which ensued when the Great British Public discovered they were expected to foot the bill for the Eurozone’s economic incompetency, the fact the British rebate would be cut it in half was largely overlooked. As such, if the sum is indeed reduced to £850 million, it is not due to the diplomacy of the Prime Minister or Chancellor of the Exchequer. The rebate, originally negotiated by the Iron Lady’s handbagging tactics, entitles us to roughly two-thirds of our payments to the EU back, although the exact percentage varies. This is due to the huge amount of money Brussels spends each year on the Common Agricultural Policy, which does not benefit British agriculture to the same extent it does other member states. One thing is certain; the rebate – regardless of whether we actually receive it or not – has always been promised by the European Commission, rubbishing Cameron and Osborne’s claim of “renegotiation”. Last week, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls brandished the actual minutes of the EU Finance Ministers’ meeting during a House of Commons debate on the bill. Balls pointed out that not once in the 21-page document did Osborne complain about the size of the bill, or was the British rebate mentioned. Exactly how Osborne could have “negotiated” the application of the British rebate without mentioning it is unclear. Indeed, the whole handling of the budget affair seems suspect. We now know Osborne knew days in advance of Cameron storming into a meeting in Brussels, thumping his fists on the lectern because he was supposed to have just discovered Britain would face this £1.7 billion bill. It is not inconceivable the Tory leadership decided to play up their opposition to the bill before “negotiating” the rebate, in order to show the voters of Rochester and Strood ‘ that Cast-Iron’ Dave could be tough on the EU. Even if the bill is now £850 million, this is still an outrageously high price to pay, on top of our membership fee -- £11.3 billion last year -- to remain in the EU. Nor is it the last surcharge Brussels will hit us with. As former Defence Secretary Liam Fox warned last Monday, the next surcharge we will face will be next year, after Britain’s defence spending is taken into account. If we really want to stop being taxed by the EU for being successful, the only answer is to Get Britain Out of the EU. The sums of money arbitrarily being demanded could be put to far better use than subsidising the economic incompetence of Eurozone countries. Until we leave the EU following an In / Out referendum the British taxpayer will always be stuck with the bill. thecommentator/article/5358/eu_puff_smoke_and_mirrors
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 22:57:55 +0000
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