European leaders call for EU budget cap
Prime Minister David Cameron and other European leaders have called for a real-terms freeze in the EU budget for 2014-2020.
The leaders of the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands and Finland have signed a letter to Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, arguing that the EU budget should rise by no more than the rate of inflation.
The Prime Minister announced their intention to send the letter in a press conference at the end of the European Council meeting in Brussels on Friday:
“All around Europe, countries are tightening their belts to deal with their deficits. Europe cannot be immune from that. We want to see real budgetary restraint for 2014-20 - the time of the next financial perspective. That is why the text we will publish talks about at least a real-term freeze in the budget for that period.”
The EU budget is set to rise by 2.91 per cent in 2011 and the Prime Minister said that he is also aiming for a lower increase for 2012:
“Even 2.91 per cent means a lot of extra money going from Britain to Brussels so I want us to do even better in 2012.”