Brussels, 16/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - After the publication of the new proposal by the Luxembourg Presidency on the financial perspectives (see other article), just a few hours before the European Council opened, the Blair government said, on Thursday afternoon, that it was determined to keep the British rebate. Tony Blair's spokesperson told the press that Britain was determined to defend two principles: - the rebate will be necessary until the problem of budgetary imbalance has been resolved; and the budget must, in future, be a better reflection of the needs of today's EU, rather than those of thirty to forty years ago. In the Netherlands, Atzo Nicolaï, Secretary for European Affairs, said: “What is on the table is absolutely not acceptable for the Netherlands, and we are therefore waiting for a new proposal from the Presidency. It will not be easy” to find an agreement on Friday, Mr Nicolaï asserted. The Dutch prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, who attended the European People's Party summit in Meise (see other article) continued saying: “The Netherlands is the largest net contributor (to the EU budget) and that has to change. Spain believes the new compromise proposal is along the right lines, but that it is still inadequate, Prime Minister Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said before leaving for the summit. Poland “is not pleased with the last compromise proposed by Luxembourg”, Jaroslaw Pietras, European Affairs Minister, told the press.
In a government statement issued at the Bundestag on Thursday, Chancellor Schröder again attacked the British rebate saying it had “no real justification given that the United Kingdom is the sixth beneficiary from the EU budget although it is far behind as a contributor” to the EU budget. The British rebate will be the key to an agreement on the financial perspectives, Mr Schröder said, saying that, if there is an electoral defeat in September this year (a possibility that poll results seem to confirm), this week would be the last European Council that he attends. The Chancellor also reminded those present of Germany's resolve to make concessions and to “move” on condition that all the other Member States do the same. Angela Merkel, CDU President and candidate to the Chancellery, shares Mr Schröder's opinion on the need for the British to make sacrifices when it comes to the rebate. But, he stressed on Thursday at the Bundestag, “it is not possible for some to say that farm subsidies are sacro-sanct and refuse to touch them, and to expect flexibility on the part of the others” (a reference to the October 2002 agreement on farm spending, a dossier on which Mr Schröder has so far defended the French position, which rules out all review of the agreement).
In his declaration at the Bundestag, Gerhard Schröder also spoke out in favour of continuing the ratification process for the Constitution. “The constitutional treaty will become an integral part of the EU's future. To say that the Constitution is dead also brings discredit to the German yes-vote for the Constitution”, the Chancellor stressed. President Chirac also urges for the process to continue in the other Member States despite the French rejection. However, he added, if the European Council takes a stance for a pause in the process (which is highly likely), “France will rally to the collective position expressed by the Presidency. We shall not give lessons after creating the problem”. In Denmark, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen declared on Thursday that he will rapidly take a decision on whether or not to maintain the referendum on the Constitution scheduled for September depending on the results of discussions at the European Council (see other news).
"Once I have an overall view of the situation at the summit, I will get in touch with the political parties here and I will tell them very quickly what will happen" with the ratification, he said (Danish public opinion, initially in favour of ratification, has done a U-turn since the victories for the "noes" in France and the Netherlands and the suspension of the referendum by London). In the meantime, the Dutch government has ruled out a further referendum on the Constitution. "The Dutch people have been very clear. For this reason, as the government, we feel that there is no chance of holding a second referendum", said the minister for European affairs, Atzo Nicolai. "This does not mean that [the process] is finished in the other countries (...). I hope that within the European Council, we will be able to reach an agreement on where to go from here", he added.