Blair accused of rebate surrender

Tony Blair has been accused of "surrendering" part of Britain's annual £3.8bn EU rebate in an attempt to end Europe's budget crisis.
Mr Blair is expected to offer a reduction in return for cuts to spending on agriculture.

Tory leader Michael Howard said Mr Blair had "squandered" a "tremendous opportunity" to achieve reform.

Mr Blair said that not trying to reach a deal would be a "betrayal" of British and wider European interests.

'Move forward'

He added: "This has to be done on the basis of solidarity across the board...We are doing our best.

"It's important for Europe and each of our countries individually that we manage to get this budget position sorted out and we can move forward."

Tony Blair is a lame duck anxious about his political legacy

Daily Telegraph


UK press reaction

Britain's six-month EU presidency is set to end on 1 January and Mr Blair is keen to secure a budget deal before then.

He is said to be offering to reduce the overall European budget, reduce payments to the joining nations, and cut Britain's rebate in return.

The move follows the failure this summer to set an EU budget for 2007-13, with countries such as France and Ireland opposing plans to decrease funding for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

'Mess'

Mr Howard said: "We are not going to get fundamental reform of the EU budget in the last days that remain of the British presidency.

"We could have had it, but we squandered a tremendous opportunity."

He said that after the European constitution had been rejected in referendums earlier this year, there should have been a debate about Europe's future.

He added: "We should have been talking about what we want the EU to do, about what the EU is for, and once you have decided what it should do and what it is for, then what it should cost and how you pay for its costs follow naturally from that decision.

"We never had the slightest attempt from the British government to take part in that debate or lead that debate and that's why we are in the mess that we are."

Conservative Europe spokesman Graham Brady said the suggestion of reducing the rebate was a "surrender", adding: "It is precisely what we were worried was going to happen all along."

'Keep money'

UK Independence Party leader Roger Knapman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I can't think of anything that's likely to redeem this potential agreement. The rebate is set in stone.

"He doesn't have to reduce it, he doesn't have to amend it, he doesn't have to do anything except keep quiet and keep the money."

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said: "There's a danger of getting the worst of all possible worlds - Britain gives up £1bn a year, the Eastern European countries get less money and there is no agreement to reform agriculture."

Mr Blair is in Budapest to meet leaders of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Budapest ahead of an EU summit in Brussels on 15 and 16 December.

Estonian prime minister Andrus Ansip has already described Mr Blair's proposal - which could see funding for accession states cut by up to 10% - as "unacceptable".

bbc.co.uk


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For the less politically minded members of the forum, could someone like RedSam or the like break this down a little?

Im a little confused as to what was trying to be achieved and what the net result is to UK Farming.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2005 12:43PM by Peat.

Basically, the UK gets a rebate off of every EU state in recompence of the CAP policy, which mainly benefits French farmers. It was secured by Margaret Thatcher because in the 1980s, when the deal was struck, it was argued that CAP meant Britain was paying too much into the EU for what came back out of it. Thus, the rebate was agreed. However, many on the continent now argue that the UK does not need the rebate any more, as it does not contribute as much as it used to in terms of GDP. Thus, many, like the French, think Britain should lose it.

However, Tony Blair has long argued this would only come if France is prepared to reform CAP, and basically get rid of it, or at the very least cut it substantially - as CAP benefits French farmers hugely.

Given the expansion of the EU, if the rebate were to stay as it is now, IIRC it would turn from the 3rd or 4th biggest contriubtor to the EU to the 2nd most receiving country from the EU.

Thus, Blair's 'surrender' on the rebate would actually be to keep the UK's net contrbution to the EU at a similar level to today, whereas it would otherwise mean we are a net receiver otherwise - which the rest of the EU would say is unfair, as Britain is the second biggest economy in the EU, and not far off Germany as the biggest either.

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so, do i take from this that uk farming subsidies will have to be reduced?

if so thats yet another nail in UK Farmings coffin.

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The UK doesn't gain nearly as much from CAP as countries like France. The impact on British farming wouldn't be horrendous. Anyway, what about the farmers we outprice in the rest of the world through subsidies?

We should have to compete with them on a fair basis.

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they say a european cow lives on twice as much as many afrcan people per day.

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Tony

...but people can't eat grass anyway! Ahem.

I thnk its ridiculous that France refuses to budge on this issue at all.

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She says brief things, her love’s a pony
My love’s subliminal

b-tone Wrote:
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> they say a european cow lives on twice as much as
> many african people per day.

Exactly my point. CAP is completely unjustifiable.

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i'm no expert but any subsidies and similar protectionism boils my blood.
there was an article in time about cotton. the us farmers get something like 75c per kilo, whereas the market price is about 30c.
and the americans are pissed off about it.

well, in the end globalisation will bite them in the ass. no where's my english-chinese dictionary...

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Tony

Ferrari_Fuhrer Wrote:
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> b-tone Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > they say a european cow lives on twice as
> much as
> > many african people per day.
>
> Exactly my point. CAP is completely unjustifiable.

Yes, but seeing as agriculture uses about 70% of the british isles, it would be a little bit silly to cut our agricultural subsidies. Its a huge business.

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those pesky humans probably only use 50% of africa. darn wastrels

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Tony

I love it when people use africa as a reasoning. Youi ever been there? You do anything to change things?

Yes its true that they are in serious need and poverty, but we're talking EU here.

EDIT: sorry im in a foul mood, work is crap.

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She says brief things, her love’s a pony
My love’s subliminal



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2005 04:40PM by -qwerty-.

Peat Wrote:
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> Ferrari_Fuhrer Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------

> Yes, but seeing as agriculture uses about 70% of
> the british isles, it would be a little bit silly
> to cut our agricultural subsidies. Its a huge
> business.

Indeed 70% of the UK is farmland, but it doesn't make up 70% of UK output, trade, employment or otherwise. None of those categories come anywhere near close that figure. I don't know the eaxct figures for primary industry employment, but tertiary industry makes up at least 55% of UK employment. Secondary and primary industry make up the remaining 45%, and secondary is the larger of the two. Primary industry, I would imagine, accounts for about 18% of all employment in the UK at best.However, those are offhand figures.

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