Under the last seven year framework the EU Budget ceiling was €943 billion, but thanks to the Prime Minister’s strong leadership, Great Britain has achieved an agreement that it will be cut to €908 billion, €80 billion lower than what was originally proposed. So, rather than increase the budget limit by €45 billon, it has been cut by €35 billion from the ceiling agreed by the previous Labour Government. David Cameron has also protected the British rebate – half of which Labour frittered away without return (which is never a clever negotiating stance).
And what do our European allies make of this unyielding stance? The French newspaper, Le Figaro, reports that one member of a delegation which fought step by step to contain his offensive acknowledged, “Cameron’s masterstroke: One man can claim the credit: David Cameron…he returns to 10 Downing Street as the victor, to the frustration of the French and the Italians....He is a real negotiator, with a lot, a lot of tenacity.” The Belgium press hail ‘Cameron the Conquer’, in Italy they acknowledge that “the term austerity, so far unknown, now is starting to do the rounds of the Brussels corridors” and in Ireland they note that "Fiscal cuts vindicate Cameron hard line".
The EU’s seven-year budget will now cost less than 1 per cent of Europe’s gross national income for the first time in its history. It is still disappointing that administrative costs are still around 6 per cent of the total, but overall spending on the Common Agricultural Policy will fall by 13 per cent compared with the last seven-year budget.
Working with allies, the Prime Minister took real steps towards reform in the EU. This is a good deal for Great Britain, a good deal for Europe, and above all a good deal for all our taxpayers.
Sadly, this fight is far from over as the agreement still needs to be ratified by the European Parliament. However, despite widespread support for a cut to the EU Budget amongst European taxpayers, the European Parliament is considering holding a secret ballot. This means that European taxpayers will not be able to find out how their MEP voted – something which I consider an affront to democracy. The fact is that you send MEPs to Brussels—and, regrettably, to Strasbourg—so you can see what they do on your behalf.
All UK MEPs account for a decent percentage of the European Parliament, so it makes a real difference if socialist MEPs (the official group within which Labour operate) from Great Britain vote for this budget, and they should do so in an open, transparent manner.
Ed Miliband has been unable to confirm that his socialist group MEPs will vote against any such secret ballot or even that the EU budget should be cut. I would urge concerned local residents to contact the Labour MEP for the south east, Peter Skinner, urging him to support openness and the budget cut: southeast@peterskinnermep.eu.