Blair to face critics as he prepares for EU presidency
Tony Blair will this week outline his plans to reform the crisis-hit EU after talks over the European budget collapsed amidst a row over the UK’s rebate and French opposition to the reform of agricultural subsidies.
The Prime Minister will address the European Parliament on Thursday when he will announce his vision for Britain’s presidency of the EU which starts on July 1.
Although a routine courtesy for any leader assuming the presidency, the visit could see Mr Blair face hostility from those European MPs who blame his intransigence over Britain’s rebate for the current EU crisis.
On Friday, French president Jacques Chirac described Britain’s stance as “pathetic and tragic” after Mr Blair twice refused to accept compromise proposals to secure a deal on the EU budget.
But the PrimeMminister insisted that he could not accede to a rethink on Britain’s annual £3 billion rebate unless EU leaders review the common agricultural policy, of which France is one of the main beneficiaries.
Press reports suggest that Mr Chirac is now planning to snub Mr Blair by arriving at the G8 summit a day after the Gleneagles talks begin, also under Britain’s leadership.
Yesterday the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw acknowledged that Britain’s presidency of the EU would be “hard-going”.
But he insisted that the Government were determined to lead the debate on changes that were needed within the EU.
“It is essentially a division between whether you want a European Union that is able to cope with the future or a European Union that is trapped in the past,” he told the Today programme.
Although France, Germany and Luxembourg were critical of Mr Blair after Friday’s budget talks collapsed, Mr Straw insisted Britain had the support of at least four other countries in refusing to accept a compromise deal on its rebate.
