Bills, bills, and more bills; EU puts Cameron in a difficult position
No one likes receiving a bill and last week the EU sent the UK a rather big one of £1.7 billion which it will need to pay by the 1st December. The Prime Minister’s reaction was, as expected, an immediate outright rejection of the payment requested in which he argued that he will challenge the demand “in every possible way.” Most notably however, David Cameron also said that the bill will not be paid by the 1st December, thus not ruling out a payment after that date.
The EU’s calculations are dated back to 1995 and it has concluded that because the UK economy was bigger than previously thought, it had been underpaying in recent years and therefore owes this extra money. The UK Government is arguing that they are being penalised for the UK’s growing economy, whilst some on the other hand, have come to the outlandish conclusion that this undesirable bill is an indication that the EU simply doesn’t mind pushing the UK further towards an EU exit.
For a change, the UK is not in isolation fighting the EU Commission on this one, as other countries such as the Netherlands, Italy and Greece have been handed an additional sum to pay which they are equally not thrilled about, and the Dutch are currently considering legal options.
Unsurprisingly, the winners from the EU’s calculations seem reasonably happy with the figures. Among those countries being handed a generous rebate due to having overpaid in the past years include France and Germany, whose leaders, Merkel and Hollande, are said to have told Cameron at the round-table last week that he should pay the UK’s dues.
Without a doubt, this bill has landed on Number 10’s doormat at the worst possible time as it has played perfectly into the hands of UKIP, who have been taking the recent by-elections by storm and are tipped to win the upcoming Rochester by-election. The euro-sceptic party is arguing that this is another prime example of the UK Government being unable to cope with the demands coming from the EU. So all eyes are now on David Cameron’s next move. Will he give in to the EU’s demands, or refuse to pay? Either way, both decisions present difficulties for the Prime Minister, and potentially push the UK closer towards the EU exit door.