Calm down, EU official tells Britain
Lord Hill said the demand had become “highly political” but it was time to look for a “practical” solution.
The question over UK membership of the European Union is at a “lively stage” and is a “boil that needs to be lanced”, the Conservative peer added.
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Hide AdChancellor George Osborne is to meet finance ministers from the other 27 EU states in Brussels today, to begin a review of the bills that have hit the United Kingdom and other nations, such as the Netherlands and Italy.
Prime Minister David Cameron has insisted the UK will not pay “anything like” the £1.7bn demanded by the EU by 1 December.
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Lord Hill, EU commissioner for financial services, said: “It seems to me this is one of those classic examples you get from time to time where something that a group of people think are technical matters suddenly, and in this case for perfectly understandable reasons, become highly political.
“The sensible thing now is to try to calm the situation down, and to look at the facts, and to look at a practical solution to the challenges that various member states face.”
Lord Hill said his job means he is required to act in the interests of all 28 member states, not just Britain.
Britain – which is facing by far the biggest surcharge – has been seeking allies among other EU states for a rethink of the contributions, but is likely to face stiff resistance from states which gain, including France, which is in line for a €1bn (£788.7 million) rebate, and Germany, in line for €779m (£614m).
Lord Hill said Brussels needs to do a “smaller number of bigger things better” instead of “intruding” into areas of national life.
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Hide AdHe said: “My view is that on the back of a reform process, Britain would want to choose to stay in the EU.
“Obviously, that’s a choice for the people of Britain – there’s democratic process to go through if we have that referendum. But I think it is good to address that question; I think there is a boil that needs to be lanced.”
He added: “We have a tendency in Britain to think of all these issues as though they only affect Britain – British exceptionalism, if I can call it that.
“The fact is, when I sit here and look across the EU and what’s happening in other countries, many others have very similar debates.”
Asked whether Mr Cameron – who became red-faced with anger and pounded his fist on his lectern as he denounced the demand in Brussels last month – agreed with Lord Hill that a calm approach was needed, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It seems to me to be perfectly reasonable to express views strongly and deal with something in a determined and methodical manner.
“That is exactly what we are doing.”
The spokesman indicated today’s meeting of finance ministers in Brussels would be an opportunity to consider explanations of the process by which the £1.7bn bill was calculated.
He added: “The right thing is to keep doing what we have been doing, which is to make very clearly our views around the unacceptability of the scale of the bill and to get on with the work we are doing with the European Commission and other EU finance ministers.”
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