Luxembourg, 17/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - At a working lunch during their informal meeting on Saturday in Luxembourg, ministers of the economy and finance of the EU Member States discussed the next perspectives, notably those on the “income” chapter of the EU budget. Despite efforts of the Luxembourg presidency to get positions moving in the direction of an agreement between Member States at the European Council of 16-17 June, British minister Gordon Brown remains inflexible and does not accept the advice of his counterparts on the question of the budgetary rebate his country has benefited from since 1984. The six countries calling for budgetary “rigour”: German, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Sweden, reaffirmed their position in a letter supporting a budget limited to 1% of Gross National Income GNR of the EU, as opposed to the 17 so-called “cohesion” countries, which include the ten new Member States in their ranks.
Addressing the press on Saturday, Luxembourg prime minister and minister for finance Jean-Claude Juncker stated, “It is obvious that there will not be an agreement on financial perspectives unless we get an agreement on spending, as well as the income part of future European budgets”. He said that he was very happy to be able to announce, with irony, “the agreement, which consists of not saying that we do not agree” on this dossier. Juncker believes that this stalemate could continue “until the last minute”…Whereas everybody will tell you that there was no agreement because one had to appeal to the responsibilities of the statesman. We could have obtained an agreement today but the conditions did not allow”, added the president of Eurogroup.
Mr Juncker drew the following conclusions: the final proposal” that the presidency would make for the 2007-13 financial framework would be between the position of Member States that “wanted to put a ceiling on the EU's aim of 1% of its national wealth” and that of the European Commission in its initial proposal. The Commission proposals “have to be very substantially reduced sop that an agreement can be found between Member States” recognised Mr Juncker; the position of Member States in favour of a financial framework limited to 1% “should be reviewed because other Member States do not all agree with this position…It is necessary that we deal with the British rebate in a specific way, including the precise modalities that will have to be examined…We will have to find particular arrangements” for Member States which are able to make a net contribution and which want to be treated in the same way as “other Member States that pay less and which are, nonetheless, just as wealthy”.
Mr Juncker concluded that, “here are four elements for squaring the circle that we have to attempt before the end of our presidency. I don't know how we're going to square the circle before the end of our presidency but I am convinced that the following presidency will not be able to do it”.
One Gordon Brown “equals himself”
Has Gordon Brown softened his position on the subject of the British cheque? Mr Juncker informed the press that he found that Brown “equalled himself”. Asked on the eve of previous evening after the Eurogroup meeting how he felt before the discussion with Mr Brown on the “income” section of the EU budget, Junker explained that he hoped that Mr Brown's view would evolve in harmony with his own view. The presidency (as for 24 of the other Member States of the EU, the rebate should not be got rid of but rather gradually reduced. A presidency working document points out that the circumstances have changed substantially since the decision was taken in 1984 at the Fontainebleau Summit granting the United Kingdom a reduction to its budget contribution. The agriculture section in the Community budget has been substantially reduced (as opposed to cohesion policy which has risen considerably) and the United Kingdom is now one of the most prosperous countries of the EU explained the presidency document. Moreover, if the system is not changed, the volume of British rebate will increase “dramatically” in the 2007-13 period. The French minister of the economy Thierry Breton said that, “the cheque was executed last century…We are now in a new century and it is not completely absurd to pose this question of getting rid of it). He added that they will pose the question at the appropriate time. Irish minister Brian Cowen said that there had been no advance but negotiations had not yet begun.