Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2014-12-16-Speech-2-786-000"
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"en.20141216.38.2-786-000"2
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"Madam President, we are here once again to discuss the issue of the European Union budget for 2015. I want to explain to you how this is seen in the United Kingdom.
There is a perception that taxpayers are being asked to contribute more and more and that they do not actually get enough in return. For that reason, the recalculation of GNI and the extra British contribution of GBP 1.7 billion plays into the same feeling. It is within the rules, but a recalculation in which Greece and Italy pay more, and Germany pays less, comes across in a particular way to voters.
In May, over 50% of the vote in the United Kingdom went to parties which want less Europe. You may well believe that to be a minority view across the European Union, but it is a majority view in the United Kingdom. If anything, it underestimates the strength of feeling. Two polls in the last week both showed that 58% of those expressing an opinion wanted the United Kingdom to leave the European Union altogether.
So this budget – back to the budget – is an elegant compromise but it is a compromise between the Council, the Commission and Parliament. I understand that it is a compromise that many, if not most, Members of this House are unhappy with, even though they may, when it comes down to it, vote in favour of it. But this is where there is a yawning chasm. A chasm between what goes on here and what is going on in the United Kingdom. It is not, I think, a compromise which the British people will readily accept.
The gap between Europe and the United Kingdom is not the deep blue sea but there is a fundamental difference in belief about what Europe should be about."@en1
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