The news that the European Union has decreed that its Budget be increased by 4.9 percent in 2012 ties a knot in
the stomach, as I ponder an Easter weekend spent in Margate rather than Majorca due to austerity.
As Tim Montgomerie notes, the government is taking this opportunity to assert its euroscepticism. Stern communiqués are being worded; stark warnings are being issued. Behind the scenes, the government has joined with the Dutch, its closest ally on the Continent, to confront the avaricious Commission. Patrick Wintour reports that the French will also oppose the proposed Budget, and the Austrians, Danes, Swedes, Finns and Belgians are expected to lend their weight to the cause. The 2012 Budget will be a test of this frugal alliance, which hopes to restrict the EU’s 2013-2020 Budget round. (If they fail, then it’s likely that the government will have take firmer steps to quell dissent on the Tory backbenches.)
Multilateral resistance is a now prominent feature of European politics. A recent attempt to cap payments made under the CAP saw Britain joined by the northern European powers and, crucially, the Germans, who have tired of paying for lackadaisical French farmers and the tatterdemalion PIGS. The CAP is likely to survive unscathed, but Germany’s intervention is another example of its growing antipathy to Brussels. The allies will need Germany on side if the Commission’s Budget is to be beaten, both in the short and long-term.
PS: It’s worth mentioning that there are rumours that the government has managed to persuade Brussels to abolish the ‘discards’ policy, which forces fishermen to return dead fish to the sea in order to satisfy quotas. If so, then Caroline Spelman, Richard Benyon and DEFRA will have removed an impediment to Britain’s ailing but venerable fishing industry. However, it remains to be seen what concession has been made in return, if indeed the discards policy is scrapped.
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