By - 6th December 2005
Europe's press charts a largely hostile response to British EU presidency proposals for deep cuts to Brussels expenditure for 2007 to 2013.
Overall spending is reduced to €847 billion, there is €14bn less for new member states, €7bn less for rural development, €2bn less for farm subsidies and €1bn for EU administration costs.
As a sweetener London is offering to stump up an extra €8bn against the UK’s annual rebate to soften the cuts for the EU’s ten new, and poorest, members.
The British press focuses on the negative reaction and European Commission president José Manuel Barroso’s rejection of an “unacceptable” offer.
French newspapers cover the Paris response: “unacceptable” and “very costly for France”. French Foreign minister Philippe Doutse-Blazy is reported as saying “This proposition solves nothing”.
The German media reports that Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to study the text before commenting. “We cannot say at all what the chances of the British compromise proposal is,” said Berlin.
FAZ warns that Martin Schulz, the leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament has threatened to reject a budget based on UK figures - MEPs have a veto on any deal.
Italian officials expressed “negative” feeling toward the offer but there has been no official reaction from Rome as yet.
Spanish newspapers note that Spain will become a net contributor, paying more than it receives, by 2013.
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the UK offer “does not satisfy anyone”.
Spanish finance minister Pedro Solbes said: “At first sight, the UK proposal is not fit to solve either Spanish nor European problems.”
“I am not sure if we will be able to reach agreement,” said Dutch finance minister Gerrit Zalm.
Belgian finance chief Didier Reynders described the budget bid as “not very ambitious”.
“We must focus on the reaction of the interested parties, I mean the new members, for whom this proposal reduces help,” he said.
Polish newspapers gauge the reaction from the East, Warsaw is set to lose €6bn under the UK expenditure projection.
“This budget is unacceptable… We had tried to persuade the British to the value of solidarity in the budget. This value has been infringed,” Polish president Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said.
Polish European affairs minister Jaroslaw Pietras vowed “Poland will be against this not just today and tomorrow but to the last day”.
Polish MEP Jacek Saryush-Wolski backed the Schulz call for a parliament veto of EU spending based on the British bottom line.
The Estonian government rejected the UK proposal and stressed that discussions could continue during the Austrian and Finnish EU presidencies in 2006.
“This proposal is disenchanting and doesn't give new members the chance to catch up richer EU countries", Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said.
But sounding a positive note amid the chorus of criticism, Czech Prime Minister Jirzi Paroubek insisted the offer is “worth discussing”.
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