Draft EU Budget 2011

Priti Patel Excerpts

Wednesday 13th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

It is a delight to speak in this debate as a new Member, particularly as the country was denied a vote on the Lisbon treaty and this is the first post-Lisbon budget.

When the Lisbon treaty was passed, we heard claim after claim that it would make the EU decision-making process more efficient and democratic. How can it have led to more efficiency, when the EU budget is due to increase by 5.8% in payment appropriations? Even the Opposition, with their astonishing record on spending and waste, would struggle to justify an annual increase in spending on that scale. I very much doubt that, in the current economic climate, any Department calling for such an increase in its budget would be given any consideration.

The Government’s position is to keep cash levels at the same rate as last year, but, at a time when most domestic Departments are looking to make efficiencies and cuts ranging from 25% to 40%, why is the EU not being pushed further? With a total budget exceeding €130 billion, it is not unreasonable for the Government and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, in her negotiations, to pursue the Commission and other member states to make deeper cuts in order to bring down the cost of the EU and to protect the British taxpayer.

My constituents in Witham and the majority of the British public now understand that the Government are dealing with spending, and that spending must come down. As decisions affecting my constituents are taken, however, they will be furious to see that, although they cannot have their new school buildings or road improvements for now, more and more of their hard-earned money is being handed over to Europe.

Having gone through the draft budget, which is a significant document, I note that there are some significant and questionable increases in spending, which the Economic Secretary should seek to reverse in her negotiations. There is an extraordinary document entitled, “Administrative expenditure of the institutions”. Linked to the budget, it is an alarming read, and figures for each institution, line by line, give a shocking insight into bureaucratic waste in the EU.

Those figures include an 85% increase in “Entertainment and representation expenses”; a 440% increase in

“Miscellaneous expenditure on the organisation of Euromed Parliamentary Assembly meetings”;

a 43% increase to €19.6 million on

“Expenditure on publication, information and participation in public events”;

a 23.6% increase in

“Contributions to European political parties”;

a 24.7% increase in

“Contributions to European political foundations”;

and, on top of that, as we have already heard, the

“Provisional appropriation for the 18 additional Members of the European Parliament”,

which under the Lisbon Treaty will cost €9.4 million.

I have previously questioned the Europe Minister, who is not here today, on that matter, but, while this Parliament reduces its numbers and cuts its costs, subsidies and expenses, surely the Economic Secretary should make the same point about Europe when she comes to negotiate with her European counterparts.

Only last month, another example of EU waste was brought to my attention. Promoted by the East of England Development Agency and the East of England European Partnership, the document entitled, “Europe for Citizens”, opens with an extraordinary and, one could argue, helpful statement, proclaiming:

“Europe for Citizens is a funding programme that basically provides a large number of small grants.”

I find that statement astonishing. In spite of the economic difficulties that face this country and, in fact, other European states, a pot of money amounting to €215 million is available for “High visibility events”, “Town twinning”,

“Structural support for think tanks”,

and

“Support for projects initiated by civil society organisations.”

Trimming those budgets and other activities would save the British taxpayer quite a lot of money and even bring some long overdue financial management to the EU.

Next month, as we have heard, we will have the spectacle of the European Court of Auditors finding, no doubt, even more irregularities in the EU budget for yet another year running. In any well-respected democracy, no organisation spending money on that scale would be able to get away with the auditors not signing off its books, or with the level of previous errors, which most Government Members attribute to the previous Government’s maladministration. I urge the Economic Secretary to ask for stringent guarantees that money spent by the EU will be spent not only efficiently but robustly and effectively, and that the auditors are doing their job properly, because there are so many instances of waste and unaccountability. British taxpayers are not sufficiently up in arms about that issue.

Instead of acknowledging the deficiencies in its budgets and its incompetent financial management, the EU lives in denial, pursuing a policy of blatant spin and propaganda, and attacking any organisation that dares to question how taxpayers’ money is being spent. On its website, there is a whole section devoted to so-called “EU budget myths”, and a “myth-buster guide” has been published. The EU goes as far as to state that we should

“not confuse errors with fraud”

and that there are

“too many errors, usually made by the end users of EU funding.”

This budget and the forthcoming negotiations clearly provide an opportunity to challenge the EU in its way of working.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that when the Economic Secretary engages in these negotiations, which I have no doubt that she is more than qualified to lead given what she said earlier, it would be to her advantage if we supported amendment (b), because going in and asking for a reduction in the budget instead of just the status quo would help our case?

[Priti Patel]

I totally agree with that.

The situation is without a doubt unsustainable. Particularly given the EU’s previous track record as regards misappropriation of funds and lack of transparency, current funding levels cannot continue. EU officials need to understand that the British public cannot be treated like fools. We can clearly see through the spin, the propaganda, and the abuses of taxpayers’ money for endless self-serving vanity projects that are not in our democratic, economic or national interest. Just as sunshine has proved to be the best disinfectant on issues such as MPs’ expenses, it is about time that some sunlight was shone on to the EU budget.

[Nick de Bois]

Give them IPSA.

[Priti Patel]

They are welcome to IPSA, as well.

It is an appropriate coincidence that we are discussing the EU budget on the very same day that Baroness Thatcher celebrates her 85th birthday. What better way to celebrate the Iron Lady’s birthday than for the Economic Secretary to go to Europe tomorrow, stand up and really fight our corner, and say those immortal words, “No, no, no”, giving an ultimatum to her European counterparts and the Commission bureaucrats as they press for larger sums of money to be spent and attack our rebate?

I wish the Economic Secretary well in those fundamental discussions and negotiations. Our country has paid a high price on previous occasions, and our sovereignty has been undermined. We have Europe meddling in our affairs, taking billions of pounds from the hard-pressed British taxpayer. I urge her to put Britain’s interests, and the interests of the British taxpayer, first.