22/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The MEP Andrew Duff (ALDE, United Kingdom) has called upon the British government, just as the Council of the EU is discussing the problem of the financial perspectives 2007-2013 (EUROPE 9072), to agree to a reduction in the budgetary rebate obtained for the United Kingdom at Fontainebleau in June 1984 by Margaret Thatcher with, in exchange, a compromise with France on the subject of the co-funding of agricultural expenditure. The British government must recognise that the CAP is already undergoing a "radical reform, as part of the package of measures already agreed to by Tony Blair in 2002", said Mr Duff in a press release, adding: "no sugar producer from East Anglia, faced with a reduction in prices of 39%, can doubt the pace of current reform of the CAP". The British Liberal Democrat added: "a co-funding of the CAP (by the Member States) would spectacularly reduce EU expenditure, and automatically establish a fairer balance between France and the United Kingdom in terms of net contributions" to the budget of the Union. In exchange, the Blair government should acknowledge that "the British rebate, which is now more than 20 years old, can no longer be defended today", noted Mr Duff, adding: it is "indefensible" for the United Kingdom not to be paying its fair share of the costs of the enlargement of the EU, of which it was such a strong proponent.