Another £1 Billion Set to be Added to the EU Membership Bill
On the same day that the ConDem regime announced massive cuts to frontline services to British people, the European Parliament voted in a new budget which is set to increase the cost of British membership of the EU membership by nearly a billion pounds every year.
MEPs voted to increase the annual EU budget from nearly £108 billion this year to more than £114 billion in 2011, a rise of 5.9 percent. There were 546 votes in favour of the budget, with only 88 against (including, of course, the British National Party’s two MEPs, Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons).The issue goes now goes into arbitration between MEPs, EU ministers and the European Commission, with this year's budget being rolled over into 2011 if no deal is done by January.
Nearly £400 million has been allocated to finance the new EU diplomatic service which will open offices in New York, Beijing and Moscow, despite all EU members already having embassies in those nations.
Another EU budget allocation which was doubled end was that of the “entertainment” department. This body puts on champagne receptions and courtesy limousines, amongst other things.
Most of the increased spend would however be directed toward agricultural subsidies and aid to the Continent’s poorer regions, particularly those southern European nations who are already struck by financial instability.
It was therefore not surprising to see almost all the Greek, Spanish and Portuguese MEPs vote in favour of the budget, with many rebelling against their political group policy on the matter.
The Lisbon Treaty has put more pressure on the budget by giving the EU new tasks and creating new senior posts, something which David Cameron claimed to have opposed but who now, infamously, accepts as a done deal.
* The EU’s Budget Commissioner has also proposed a new VAT tax which, if approved, will be applied in all member states.
Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski has announced that he wants to revivie stalled plans for a taxation system across all 27 member nations to help finance the EU’s operations.
Other taxes under consideration include levies on carbon emissions, air transport, financial transactions or bank profits.
EU chiefs have already indicated that they want to scrap the remains of
Britain’s multi-billion pound annual rebate.
