Straw reveals EU presidency priorities
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw today revealed that reaching agreement on the EU budget was high on the list of the Government’s priorities for its presidency of the EU.
Mr Straw told MPs that the Government would “work hard to reach agreement on future financing by the end of the year”, as he detailed the Government’s plans for the presidency, which begins tomorrow.
Talks on the EU budget for 2007-13 collapsed acrimoniously earlier this month, with disagreement over the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the UK’s EU rebate.
Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to give up the £3.2 billion EU rebate unless farm subsidies, which account for 40 per cent of EU spending, were reformed.
France is refusing to move on CAP reform, insisting that farm subsidies for the period 2007-13 were set by the European Council in 2002.
Today, Mr Straw said discussions would continue and the UK would be seeking a more rational budget.
He added that the main aim of the UK presidency would be to reconcile economic progress and social justice, denying that there needed to be a choice between the two.
Britain’s priorities, set out in a White Paper, also included pressing ahead with the Services Directive, which is designed to liberalise the service sector across the EU, pursuing freer and fairer world trade, and reforming the sugar regime as part of reform of CAP.
But Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary Dr Liam Fox described the White Paper as “full of rhetoric, contradictions and platitudes”.
On CAP reform for example, he complained that there was no substance to the Government’s proposals – with only the sugar regime getting a mention.
As for the rebate, he asked whether it was “on the table”, and what level of reform would trigger a discussion about it.
He accused the Government of “unambitious … lowest common denominator, eurospeak”.
Meanwhile, on EU enlargement, Mr Straw also revealed that the Government was “strongly committed” to Turkish membership of the EU, and was looking forward to Bulgaria and Romania joining the union.
The accession of Croatia and other Balkan countries depended upon them meeting the required criteria, he said.
See the British presidency website for more information.
