European Union and Britain battle over big extra budget payment
AP Nov 7, 2014, 06.45PM IST
(Britain has support from)
BRUSSELS: It's high noon for Britain and the European Union over a 2.1 billion euro ($2.7 billion) bill that London is refusing to pay at short notice.
The EU last month reassessed how much each of its 28 member states needs to contribute to its budget and made Britain's top-up the highest. To make matters worse for Prime Minister David Cameron, it added a tight December 1 deadline.
As EU finance ministers tackled the sensitive issue Friday, British Treasury chief George Osborne said the demand for the extra money was "unacceptable," echoing Cameron who had called the size of the increase and the deadline "appalling."
The standoff comes at a particularly sensitive time for the British government, which is dealing with a surge in anti-EU sentiment at home, with some politicians calling for Britain to leave the EU altogether.
French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said a potential solution was being worked out that would spread Britain's payment out to September, giving Britain a breathing space of 10 months instead of barely three weeks.
"A compromise is being established around this proposal," he said.
It remained unclear whether that would be acceptable for Britain if the total amount due remains the same.
Britain has support from countries like the Netherlands, Cyprus, Malta and a few others, which also saw a big increase in their contributions.
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European Union and Britain battle over big extra budget payment