The European Union Budget

As of yesterday, the European Union, that there 27-state confederation, started on a round of talks to change the Budget (2014-20). Generally, since the founding of the European Economic Community (then changed to European Communities, and now, European Union) the Budget has always been increased, however due to austerity going on in most states, the Budget is wanting to be cut.

The "I WANT TO CUT THIS SHIT" group is made of the United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Germany, and Sweden.

The "I WANT MORE MONAY FOR REGIONAL FUNDS" group is made of 15 states lead by Poland.

The European Commission (alongside the Parliamnet) wants an increase in the budget to roughly 101 trillion euros.

David Cameron, bad boy British PM, wants to cut the budget to around €800 bn, which is never going to happen.

Most of the "CUT CUT CUT" group want to lower it to around 900-950 billion.

If no deal can be reached by all twenty-seven states, then the budget will be subject to a month-by-month rolling basis by the EU's institution, which is not good.

So. I pose to you, friends. What do?

Well, the 'CUT' group seems to be made up of some of the more influential nations, so they'll probably win in the end.

Don't underestimate Poland. They're one of the better off, economically, which gives them equal clout to the otherwise more influential states.

...And, then there's France. When it comes to the Common Agricultural Policy, they're... somewhat of a stuck record, regardless of which party is in power. More so than any Conservative British Prime Minister on the opt out clause.

edited 23rd Nov '12 12:20:48 PM by Euodiachloris

Cameron is an idiot and his posturing will lead, as it always does, to a his brand of moronic nationalism being defeated and common sense winning out.

Hurrah for Angela Merkel!

edited 25th Nov '12 2:26:28 AM by Achaemenid

^

Didn't Angela Merkel also support a cut in EU Budget?

You're going to have countries that pay more in than take out(i'll call them "inners") and vice versa ("outers") and you are going to have the inverse and that is what the split comes down to, I think. The outers need the budget but they also need the inners to deliver it and they also need the inners to deliver more help outside of that budget. What the outers take from the inners in the EU budget, they lose politically and fiscally elsewhere. So the outers need the inners more. The inners will come out ahead.

The French wonkiness over CAP won't help them because they are outers when it comes to agriculture and inners overall which splits the sanity and consistency of their arguments and will leave them isolated. More so than the UK and their arguments, I bet. The UK arguments are completely in line with the rest of the inners.

Yes

Hurray for Angela Merkel...who agrees with David Cameron. Have you perhaps not noticed that they are the main pushers on austerity in Europe? That they say the same things on Europe's fiscal position and have the same reticence about paying for everybody else?

edited 25th Nov '12 2:56:35 AM by SomeSortOfTroper

I meant Cameron's ridiculous Euroskepticism, which can be contrasted with Merkel, who shows that parties can combine European integration with conservatism, not their positions on austerity.

The thing is, quite a large proportion of the British Electorate are Eurosceptic, and apparently Euroscepticism is growing on the Continent as well.

I wouldn't be surprised about Euroskepticism growing in France, given how European directives are eating away at our "Service Public"...

A large proportion of the British electorate read the right-wing newspapers (Telegraph) or right wing comics (Mail, Sun, Sexpress), which are so illiterate and dishonest on Europe that it isn't even funny. They cannot distinguish between directives and regulations. Any legal judgement that uses the ECHR (drawn up in The '50s, not by the EU) is "THE EVIL EU FORCING THEIR INNATE HITLERISM ON US RAWAWARAR". They either do not realize or deliberately ignore the differences between the EU, the EC, and the Council of Europe. Their coverage is so relentlessly negative that they never acknowledge the part played by European contributions in British successes (for instance, Theresa May had to rely on European Human Rights Laws to stop the deportation of Gary Mac Kinnon...but oh no, it was all the heroic British government), not to mention descending into outright xenophobia ("Greeks are lazy, the French are lazy communists, the Germans are Nazis"). The Telegraph is little better, despite being a broadsheet and supposedly "quality" paper. At at least one law school, one of the orientation excercises is "read a typical Telegraph article about Europe and pick out all the errors." Or these silly reports of the "ridiculously overpaid" EU civil service...whose salaries and allowances are pegged to national averages. Sometimes the stories are plain invented ("homogenizing bananas" etc). All these years, and we are still at Yes Minister levels in our media's treatment of Europe. Its absurd, and dishonest.

I submit that a large proportion of the British electorate are Euroskeptic because they are ill-informed by a press whose hysteria borders on the ultra-nationalist, and who are in breach of their moral (and very often legal) duty to fair reporting. Frankly, it makes me ashamed of my British citizenship, one of the very few things that does.

Cameron is too intelligent not to realize how much of British Euroskepticism is founded on misconceptions, but seemingly too dishonest not to pander to his base. But oh well, I'm sure we will have our exit referendum, and end up left behind. Again. But at least we heroically defended our sovereignty from the evil Bonapartists of Brussels. England Prevails!

(*takes deep breath. Rant over)

That isn't to say that all Euroskeptics aren't knowledgeable, or duped. If you don't like the idea of the UK government surrendering even any of its sovereignty then that's as good a reason as any. Or if you think supranationalism is a bad idea inherently. And there are serious problems with the EU. But these can be fixed.

As far as I am concerned, a more integrated and expanded EU (possibly even a United Europe, though I am on the fence on that one), with a unified foreign and monetary policy represents the most credible political future for the continent. Just me two cents and me pub rant.

Also, see this video, which I find amusing. No connection to the Pythons.

edited 25th Nov '12 6:46:07 AM by Achaemenid