Blair insists the UK will get rid of its rebate only if France and other rich EU countries reduce or get rid off their CAP subsidies.
U.K.'s Blair Says He Will Seek New EU Budget Accord `Quickly'
June 21 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he will seek a new agreement on the European Union's budget ``as quickly as possible'' during his presidency of the 25-nation bloc after he vetoed a plan last weekend.
``It is possible, and we've got to work for it,'' Blair said at a press conference in office in London today after talks with Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson. ``We see our role in part as trying to launch that debate, doing it in a constructive way. We're going to use our best endeavors to reach a deal.''
The comments suggest debate over the EU budget may overshadow Britain's priorities to spur economic growth and strip away deregulation during the U.K.'s six-month presidency of the union beginning next month.
Blair wants the EU to end its 50-year bias toward handing out subsidies for agriculture. French President Jacques Chirac, aiming to protect farm subsidies to his country, demanded Britain give up a 5.2 billion euro ($6.4 billion) a year rebate from the EU budget that Blair says compensates the U.K. for receiving a lower portion EU spending than France, Germany and Italy.
Persson reiterated his support for changes that would reduce the portion of the annual 105 billion euro EU budget that goes toward sustaining some groups in the union's richer nations.
``I don't think it's fair that a country like Sweden should pay for cohesion policies in the richer countries like Ireland and Spain,'' Persson said after his talks with Blair. ``They can do it on their own.''
`Not Fair'
Persson said it's ``not fair'' to blame Britain alone for the collapse of an agreement on the EU budget last week at a summit of leaders in Brussels. He said Sweden, the Netherlands and other countries wanted to see a new structure to the budget and he hoped Blair would develop proposals on the matter.
``We need a new start,'' Persson said. ``We need a new structure. It's a much more difficult issue than just talking about the British rebate.''
Blair will outline his plans for the U.K.'s presidency of the EU in a speech to the European Parliament in Brussels on June 23. Today, he said he wanted a union that could cope with increasing competition from countries such as India and China, and to focus more spending on education, worker skills and scientific research. That, he said, suggests a change to the Common Agricultural Policy that ladles out farm subsidies.
``People want to listen to a debate and an argument about Europe at the moment,'' Blair said. ``In the early 21st century the question is: Have we got the right setup for Europe? China has three times the population of all of the European Union and is growing at an extraordinary rate. It is going to be a huge economic and political power in the future. Is a budget that has 40 percent of its sending on CAP the way to do it? No.''
Blair said the U.K. rebate ``is an anomaly that has to go. It has to go in the context of the other anomaly being changed as well. It's not obstructive or difficult to raise these issues. It's in the interests of Europe as a whole. The people of Europe want to know that we've listened and responded to their concerns. The world is changing fast and Europe has got to change with it.
U.K.'s Blair Says He Will Seek New EU Budget Accord `Quickly'
June 21 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he will seek a new agreement on the European Union's budget ``as quickly as possible'' during his presidency of the 25-nation bloc after he vetoed a plan last weekend.
``It is possible, and we've got to work for it,'' Blair said at a press conference in office in London today after talks with Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson. ``We see our role in part as trying to launch that debate, doing it in a constructive way. We're going to use our best endeavors to reach a deal.''
The comments suggest debate over the EU budget may overshadow Britain's priorities to spur economic growth and strip away deregulation during the U.K.'s six-month presidency of the union beginning next month.
Blair wants the EU to end its 50-year bias toward handing out subsidies for agriculture. French President Jacques Chirac, aiming to protect farm subsidies to his country, demanded Britain give up a 5.2 billion euro ($6.4 billion) a year rebate from the EU budget that Blair says compensates the U.K. for receiving a lower portion EU spending than France, Germany and Italy.
Persson reiterated his support for changes that would reduce the portion of the annual 105 billion euro EU budget that goes toward sustaining some groups in the union's richer nations.
``I don't think it's fair that a country like Sweden should pay for cohesion policies in the richer countries like Ireland and Spain,'' Persson said after his talks with Blair. ``They can do it on their own.''
`Not Fair'
Persson said it's ``not fair'' to blame Britain alone for the collapse of an agreement on the EU budget last week at a summit of leaders in Brussels. He said Sweden, the Netherlands and other countries wanted to see a new structure to the budget and he hoped Blair would develop proposals on the matter.
``We need a new start,'' Persson said. ``We need a new structure. It's a much more difficult issue than just talking about the British rebate.''
Blair will outline his plans for the U.K.'s presidency of the EU in a speech to the European Parliament in Brussels on June 23. Today, he said he wanted a union that could cope with increasing competition from countries such as India and China, and to focus more spending on education, worker skills and scientific research. That, he said, suggests a change to the Common Agricultural Policy that ladles out farm subsidies.
``People want to listen to a debate and an argument about Europe at the moment,'' Blair said. ``In the early 21st century the question is: Have we got the right setup for Europe? China has three times the population of all of the European Union and is growing at an extraordinary rate. It is going to be a huge economic and political power in the future. Is a budget that has 40 percent of its sending on CAP the way to do it? No.''
Blair said the U.K. rebate ``is an anomaly that has to go. It has to go in the context of the other anomaly being changed as well. It's not obstructive or difficult to raise these issues. It's in the interests of Europe as a whole. The people of Europe want to know that we've listened and responded to their concerns. The world is changing fast and Europe has got to change with it.
