Draft EU Budget 2011

Dominic Raab Excerpts

Wednesday 13th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) (Con)]

I think it worth repeating plainly from the outset—not least in response to some of the observations made by the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Mr Davidson)—that the last Government failed hopelessly to stand up for the British national interest in Brussels. They failed to secure the overhaul of the common agricultural policy that Tony Blair promised, and they failed to defend Britain’s rebate, as a result of which we now pay an extra £2 billion to Brussels each year. As we have already heard, they also broke their promise to the people to give them a say on their own future through a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. The present Government have done more to fight Britain’s corner in Europe in the last six months than Labour managed in 13 years, proposing a referendum lock, retaining Parliament’s right to review the UK budget before the Commission, and defending the rebate.

With that in mind, I welcome the Government’s pledge to work to control the growth of the EU budget and to deliver better value for money for the British taxpayer. That is imperative as we act to reduce the largest budget deficit in the G20, inherited from the last Government. I also welcome the fact that the Commission’s proposed increase for 2011 has been halved, from 5.8% to 2.9%. That is a start.

The case for a more robust and rigorous approach to these negotiations is now overwhelming. It cannot be right for the European Commission to bid for a rise of almost 6% in its budget when so many member states, including Britain, are having to rein in excessive public spending. Let us take just one example. Why is the EU budget on justice and security going up when the UK faces cuts in spending on police and prisons at home? That is even less defensible when we consider the Commission’s detailed plans for the money.

First, there is the enormous waste involved. We have already heard about the EU’s administrative budget, which is set to rise year on year by between 4.4% and 5.5%. Can the Minister reassure us that the Government will continue to resist strenuously an increase in the amount of British taxpayers’ money that is forked out on this bloated bureaucracy? Secondly, there are the special interests—what the Americans call pork-barrel spending. Is it really necessary to spend €104 million on

“increasing the circulation of European audiovisual works inside and outside the European Union”?

Is it really necessary to spend €24 million on bee-keeping, and to spend half a million euros on “aid for silkworms”? Speaking of which, what possible justification is there for Lord Mandelson to continue to pocket £8,600 per month, via the Commission, for a golden goodbye as we freeze public sector pay at home?

As the Business Secretary told MEPs last month,

“no one can understand why the European budget is not being subjected to the same discipline”

as national budgets. Nothing is more likely to erode further the confidence of the British public in a Brussels clique that is woefully out of touch.

As we make cuts at home, the UK taxpayer will contribute £7.7 billion to the EU budget this year, and by the end of the current Parliament that figure is expected to rise to £9.5 billion. As its own budget defies economic gravity, the Commission, unabashed, presses for greater control of national budgets. Will the Minister reassure the House that she will reverse those skewed priorities, and will fight both to rein in excessive EU spending and to safeguard national scrutiny of our own budgetary process?

Above all, this budget demonstrates, line by line, how important it is for Britain to retain its rebate. As of December 2009, the rebate has saved the British taxpayer £65 billion since 1984. Can the Minister give us a categorical guarantee that we will never repeat the supine sell-out of 2005?

Having listened carefully to the debate, I cannot help feeling that the most compelling arguments remain those advanced by the Government when they joined Denmark, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden in voting against this wretched budget in August.