| Author (Person) | Traynor, Ian, Watt, Nicholas |
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| Series Title | The Guardian |
| Series Details | 24.10.14 |
| Publication Date | 24/10/2014 |
| Content Type | News |
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News reports emerged on the 23 October 2014 that the United Kingdom had been told that budget contribution calculations based on recent gross national income (GNI) adjustments carried out by Eurostat, the EU statistics agency, had exposed a huge discrepancy between what Britain had been asked to contribute and what it should be paying into the EU budget, because of the UK’s economic recovery. The European Commission portrayed this as a technical adjustment which happened every year and would also affect other member states as well. However, the UK media and other interests took it as a political anti-UK gesture. A UK government source said the budget demand was 'not acceptable'. DutchNews.nl reported that The Netherlands would also have to pay an extra €642m to the European Union because of the new gross domestic product calculations. According to the Financial Times, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had met UK Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss the surcharges and was said to be considering possible legal action to reverse the ruling. Other EU Member States, including the Netherlands, Finland, Greece and Ireland were also asked to provide additional funds into the EU budget, while France and Germany would receive money back as their economies struggled to recover. EU finance ministers agreed on the 24 October 2014 to Mr Cameron's call for emergency talks following a UK protest. Mr Cameron told Members of the UK Parliamwnt on the 27 October 2014 that the UK would not pay the extra £1.7bn demanded by the European Union, promising to challenge it 'in every way possible'. At a press briefing in Brussels, the European Commissioner for Budgets, Jacek Dominik, said the UK government had had 'two formal possibilities to react' and that 'at none of those meetings' had it expressed 'any concern. He also suggested that ultimately a fine might be imposed against the UK if it refused to pay. Also, that the issue raised the wider question of the UK rebate. |
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| Source Link | http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/23/uk-european-commission-eu-budget-contribution |
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| Subject Categories | Economic and Financial Affairs |
| Countries / Regions | Europe, Netherlands, United Kingdom |
