David Cameron, who was warned he was isolated in his bid to overturn a £1.7billion bill demanded by the EU
David
Cameron was warned last night he was ‘isolated’ in his bid to overturn
the £1.7billion bill from Brussels – and that the EU was becoming
‘exasperated’ with his demands.
The
Prime Minister was told that the issue was simply ‘a British problem’
and that the EU would push to levy its own taxes on European citizens if
he insists on refusing to pay the £1.7billion demanded.
The
EU is demanding the payment – which it wants by December – because the
UK economy has performed better than expected over the past few years.
In contrast, France is receiving a £790million rebate from the EU as its
economy struggles in a vicious downturn.
Alexander
Graf Lambsdorff, a senior German MEP and a vice-president of the
European Parliament, said that if Mr Cameron refused to pay, the
Commission could levy additional charges as well as withholding the UK’s
historic £3billion-a-year rebate.
And
in a further blow to Mr Cameron, even Denmark’s prime minister - seen
as a supporter of his EU modernisation programmes - poured cold water on
Britain’s hopes of reducing its cash demand.
Helle
Thorning-Schmidt, who is married to Lord Kinnock’s son Stephen, said:
‘I respect that the UK wants to discuss this among ministers, but there
are rules that must be kept.
‘Countries must follow the rules as they are.’
There
were growing questions for George Osborne’s Treasury yesterday after
the EU revealed the department knew about the £1.7billion demand almost a
week before Mr Cameron was told
Junior
Treasury minister David Gauke was told on 14 October that Britain would
have to make a significant contribution, although no sum was discussed.
Three day later, UK officials were informed by the EU that the figure would be £1.7billion.
However,
Mr Osborne was not told until last Tuesday - and Mr Cameron did not
find out until Thursday, as he was being driven to a Brussels summit.
Danish Prime Minister Helle
Thorning-Schmidt, who has poured cold water on Britain's chances of
having its cash demanded reduced
It
has also emerged that ministers had known for months that a significant
recalculation of the UK’s contribution to the EU was on the way.
As
far back as March, former Treasury minister Nicky Morgan said in a
letter that the government was giving ‘high priority’ to addressing the
impact of the changes.
And farming minister George Eustice attended a meeting of ministers which discussed the changes.
Mr Osborne is due to raise the EU demand at a meeting with the German finance minister in Berlin today.
Mr
Lambsdorff, who sits in the same European Parliament grouping as the
Liberal Democrats’ sole MEP, said there was no excuse for British
politicians not to have known about the fee.
George Osborne, pictured, was not told until last Tuesday about the EU and Mr Cameron did not find out until Thursday
‘This has been mishandled by the British government,’ he told the BBC’s Daily Politics.
‘We are really a little bit exasperated here in Brussels.
‘This is a British problem. The Treasury could have informed the Prime Minister before he came to Brussels about this thing.
‘It
is a British problem that has now transferred to a European one. It’s a
British affair that should be resolved in Britain and it should be paid
up to the EU’s budget.’ He said paying up was ‘non-negotiatable’ - and
told Mr Cameron Britain has no allies.
‘It looks very much as if the UK is alone on this,’ he said.
Mr
Lambsdorff warned: ‘If you think the system is crazy, the system of
financing the European Union, you are opening a Pandora’s box in which
the British rebate will come on to the table, in which the creation of
an EU tax on all member states will be discussed.
Junior Treasury minister David Gauke
was told on 14 October that Britain would have to make a significant
contribution, although no sum was discussed
‘I don’t think that British citizens will want to pay an EU tax proper.’
Last night the think tank Open Europe said the British people would never accept a system of EU taxes.
‘While
the current system of national contributions is messy and frustrating,
any form of direct EU taxation would be a leap in the wrong direction,’
she said.
‘In
addition to huge practical questions about how such taxes would
function – there is a risk certain countries or economic sectors could
be hit disproportionately - they would have no democratic legitimacy.
‘The
central problem with the EU budget is that it is overly complex and
wasteful; the new Commission and MEPs should work on fundamentally
reforming this rather than dreaming up new ways to hit taxpayers.’
Tory backbencher John Redwood said the £1.7billion demand was in itself a ‘massive retrospective bill on the British people’.
‘They’re
seriously suggesting that the British parliament passes some kind of
super European tax and send a bill to everybody,’ he said. ‘I think
they’re absolutely crazy.
‘The UK is paying too much; it cannot afford a retrospective tax, which would be a direct tax on the British people.
‘Because the government would be borrowing, it doesn’t have a pot of money saved for this purpose.’
Denmark
is one of the winners from the adjustments to national contributions
being imposed by the European Commission, and is in line to receive £253
million.
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