Comments on: EU Rebate http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/06/08/1647 Every day the Prime Minister's Spokesman meets a small coterie of political journalists known as 'the lobby' for a topical chat, or 'briefing'. Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:50:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: I Stock http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/06/08/1647#comment-3084 I Stock Thu, 09 Jun 2005 17:43:43 +0000 http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/06/08/1647#comment-3084 Why does the British government persist with this stance on the budget rebate? While it may play well with the Eurosceptics back home, the damage it is doing to our standing in Europe as a whole is much worse. It sends the unequivocal message that we are only in the E.U. for what we cna get out of it, no matter what. At this delicate time, it would be more in Britain's and the E.U.'s interest for us to make a concession, both to defuse accusations that we are behind the over-liberalisation of the E.U. economic landscape, and because it would be capital for the forthcoming presidency. Once upon a time, the rebate might have been justified, but this country is much richer now, and it cannot be right that even the Eastern European countries are aaying into our rebate. Surely we could at least allow it to be frozen, or to be subsumed in the wider scope of budget balancing that other countries have proposed. This government is yet again going to shoot itself in the foot. Why does the British government persist with this stance on the budget rebate? While it may play well with the Eurosceptics back home, the damage it is doing to our standing in Europe as a whole is much worse. It sends the unequivocal message that we are only in the E.U. for what we cna get out of it, no matter what. At this delicate time, it would be more in Britain’s and the E.U.’s interest for us to make a concession, both to defuse accusations that we are behind the over-liberalisation of the E.U. economic landscape, and because it would be capital for the forthcoming presidency.

Once upon a time, the rebate might have been justified, but this country is much richer now, and it cannot be right that even the Eastern European countries are aaying into our rebate. Surely we could at least allow it to be frozen, or to be subsumed in the wider scope of budget balancing that other countries have proposed.

This government is yet again going to shoot itself in the foot.

]]>