Founding fathers of the European Union: Altiero Spinelli
The Italian politician Altiero Spinelli was one of the fathers of the European Union. He was the leading figure behind the European Parliament #39;s proposal for a Treaty on a federal European...
By: European Commission
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Founding fathers of the European Union: Altiero Spinelli - Video
Britain joined the European Union grousing about the blocs budget and threatens to go out the same way, after Prime Minister David Cameron got himself into another Brussels bustup.
Cameron upstaged a European summit as he objected to a 2.1 billion-euro ($2.7 billion) addition to Britains bill due on Dec. 1 -- carrying on a tradition of British petulance about European spending that peaked with Margaret Thatcher demanding, and getting, her money back in the 1980s.
This time, more is at stake than pounds and pence: the unexpected invoice from EU headquarters gives ammunition to an anti-EU movement that wants to destroy Camerons premiership and take Britain out of the bloc, not necessarily in that order.
When youre presented with a bill like this with a month to go, is that helpful for Britains membership of the European Union? Cameron said at the close of a summit of the blocs 28 leaders, thumping the lectern. No it certainly is not.
EU budget fights crop up every seven years, when the bloc sets its long-term revenue-raising and spending plans, and then fade from public view. On the last occasion, in early 2013, Cameron celebrated his role in pushing through the first outright spending reductions in European history.
The off-year budget skirmish catches Cameron at a vulnerable time, in the runup to a U.K. general election next May. The U.K. Independence Party, which wants to hustle Britain out of the EU, threatens to gain momentum in a special election for a parliamentary seat for a district southeast of London next month at his Conservative Partys expense.
Everything seems to be going against him, Wyn Grant, professor of politics at Warwick University, said by phone. The EU effort will result in reinforcing euro-skeptic sentiment in Britain. Its a bit of a gift for UKIP.
Cameron left Brussels to throw himself into the campaign, in the district of in Rochester & Strood. Mark Reckless, who quit the Conservatives to join UKIP, will seek in the Nov. 20 vote to become the second member of the anti-establishment party to take a seat in the House of Commons.
A UKIP victory could lead to more defections from Camerons party, crippling his European strategy and destabilizing his government. To damp anti-EU voices and keep the Conservatives from splintering, Cameron has staked his re-election on a promise to hold a U.K. referendum on leaving the EU by 2017.
A potential defeat for Camerons party in Rochester would place an enormous amount of pressure on him to pull some policy nugget out of the hat, Tim Bale, author of The Conservative Party: From Thatcher To Cameron, said in an interview. Its difficult to know what that will be, because the lesson of the last few weeks is that theres no magic policy bullet to answer the UKIP question.
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Cameron Budget Blues Raise EU-Exit Specter as UKIP Cheer
Britain says its prime minister is protesting a European Union request for an additional 2.1 billion euro contribution to the EU coffers at a time of increasing pressure at home for the country to leave the bloc. A British official, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, on Friday confirmed a report in the Financial Times that his nation had been asked to top up its contribution by some 20 percent because of its improving economy. He said the Netherlands had also been asked for a top-up. The European Commission did not immediately respond to the complaint. A longtime reluctant member, Britain has seen a surge in the popularity of the UKIP party which wants to get Britain out of the EU.
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Britain Says European Union Is Asking For Bigger Contribution
BRUSSELS, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The European Union committed one billion euros ($1.26 billion) to combat the spread of the Ebola virus Friday.
The agreement came after Christos Stylianides of Cyprus was appointed Thursday as the coordinator of the 28-nation bloc's humanitarian aid programs. Stylianides, a physician, will oversee disbursement of the Ebola fund. The appointment comes after U.S. President Barack Obama named Ron Klain as the U.S. "Ebola czar," in charge of planning government agencies' response to the disease.
The EU funding is an upgrade from its plan to dedicate 600 million euros ($759 million) to the cause, and was decided upon at the EU summit in Brussels. The announcement, by EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy, comes as two new Ebola cases, in Mali and in New York City, were revealed, and a caution from the United Nations' World Food Program that the Ebola outbreak could lead to a food crisis in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Over 13,000 tons of food was delivered to 778,000 people in the three countries, most severely affected by the outbreak, but donors provided only half the funding the delivery required.
2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.
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European Union pledges $1.26 billion to fight Ebola
Syria #39;s refugees
Since 2011, the 28 European Union member states have received 144632 Syrian applications for asylum. With more than 3 million refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and six million people...
By: AFP news agency
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Syria's refugees - Video