Negotiations over the European Union’s budget for 2011 broke down in bitter acrimony late on Monday night, with member states and the European Parliament blaming each other for the failure to reach a compromise.
European Commission president José Manuel Barroso issued a furious attack on “a small number of member states” which were “not prepared to negotiate in a European spirit”.
He said: “Those that think they have won a victory over Brussels have shot themselves in the foot. It is the beneficiaries of EU programmes – including citizens, businesses and communities – who will feel the impact of this failure.”
MEPs backed away from their original demand of a 5.9 per cent rise, and accepted government leaders’ 2.9 per cent cap – agreed by the Council of Ministers in August – asking in return for a greater say over the EU’s long-term budget and a debate over how the EU is funded. They denied seeking to impose an EU tax.
EP president Jerzy Buzek condemned “the intransigence of a few member states.” Britain and the Netherlands were reported to have led the campaign against MEPs’ demands, following David Cameron’s claim to have put a brake on EU spending at the last summit meeting.
“In the end, no deal is better than a bad deal for the British taxpayer”, insisted Economic Secretary to the Treasurry Justine Greening.
The impasse means that the Commission will now prepare a new budget proposal, which could take months. EU activities next year will be funded on a month-by-month basis, pegged to this year’s budget, leaving a question mark over the future of major programmes such as Baroness Ashton’s External Action Service.
