Tuesday, December 20, 2005
EU Budget
Blair plays Santa for Europe
Tony Bliar, nearing the end of the current British Presidency of the EU, has gifted the notoriously inefficient farmers of France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Greece et al, an enormous sackful of money from the hard earned budget rebate won for Britain by Margaret Thatcher.
Mr Blair has been criticised in the UK for giving up part of the country's rebate without reform of agricultural spending.
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said: "Tony Blair's presidency will be remembered as the time Britain gave up GBP7bn without securing anything in return."
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said:
"If only Tony Blair could close the gap between his rhetoric and his actions in Europe, he'd be in a much stronger position both in the EU and at home. He has mismanaged expectations."
European Commission chief Jose Manual Barroso has suggested setting an EU tax for citizens of member states.
When asked about this, Mr Blair said he already had "enough on my plate" without arguing for such a change. - Read more
The Scotsman said;
"TONY Blair last night gave away another £1.4 billion of the British rebate, trying to buy a European Union budget deal that carries no guarantee of any cuts in European farm subsidies.
Following the fresh British concessions, EU leaders meeting in Brussels yesterday were poised to agree a budget that was larger than the one the Prime Minister had vowed to fight for."
According to Stratfor;
"In the eyes of the typical British citizen, Prime Minister Tony Blair has backed down on the EU budget and given France a fat check signed by the British taxpayers. Governments -- or at least prime ministers -- do not tend to survive such perceptions."
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