Blair: No cut in UK rebate
Tony Blair today said that he would not agree to the UK’s rebate being cut – unless there was fundamental reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.
Speaking at a press conference following talks with European Parliament president Josep Borrell, Mr Blair said he would go into next week’s European Council talks with an open mind, but would not accept any settlement that increased the “unfairness” of Britain’s position.
The PM said that the rebate corrected what would otherwise be a “quite unfair” distribution of money resulting from the way the CAP distributed 40 per cent of the EU’s budget to farmers, who represented just five per cent of the population and less than two per cent of its output.
But, he said: “If people want to look again fundamentally at the Common Agricultural Policy then of course everything can be looked at fundamentally.”
The Prime Minister linked budgetary reform with the constitutional crisis precipitated by French and Dutch ‘No’ votes on the European Constitution. He said the task facing pro-Europeans now was to show how the EU was relevant to people’s concerns today – which meant spending money in the right way.
“There needs to be now a fundamental debate about Europe’s future so that we can re-enthuse people [about] the ideals of an EU which brings people together, which has reunited Europe … and if we are going to have that fundamental debate then one part of it is to make sure that we spend money from the EU budget that’s going to equip people for the twenty-first century.” Mr Blair said.
On Thursday evening, there was a clash of words with the French president Jacques Chirac who had called on the British to “make a gesture” and agree to a reduction of the rebate.
Hitting back after talks with his Danish counterpart, Mr Blair said that the rebate would remain – and that Britain had been making a gesture for years.
Mr Blair said: “Britain has been making a gesture, because over the past ten years, even with the British rebate, we have been making a contribution into Europe two and a half times that of France.
“Without the rebate, it would have been 15 times as much as France. That is our gesture . . . The reason why the rebate exists is because otherwise there would be this quite unfair proportion of British contribution. The reason for the unfairness is because the spending of Europe is so geared to the Common Agricultural Policy.”
Earlier, Mr Chirac said that “the time has come for our British friends to understand that they must now make a gesture of solidarity” and said that he would not “accept any reduction whatsoever of the direct aids to our farmers.”
France is the major beneficiary of the CAP, which Britain wants reformed as part of its campaign to open up trade to the developing world.
Chancellor Gordon Brown also suggested that France should not complain about the British rebate, when even in 2013 it will get £6 billion in agricultural subsidies.
Mr Brown told the BBC: “To suggest that the problems that Europe faces or that referendums were lost, or unemployment is 10 per cent because of the British rebate is to wish away problems that Europe must face up to”.
He added: “We have said very clearly that not only is the rebate justified, but if in the national interest it was necessary to do so we would have to use our veto.”
