This was entirely predictable of course.
EU leaders were facing budget chaos today at a bruising first summit since Brexit as four wealthy nations refused to fill the gap left by Britain’s departure.
The 27 leaders reached a stalemate after arguing into the early hours in Brussels, with talks on the trillion-euro budget resuming for a second day today and this afternoon there was still deadlock.
The UK’s departure has left the bloc with a €75billion (£63billion) hole in its finances over seven years and the budget battle has exposed bitter divisions between EU members.
Germany wants to spend more on climate change while France is seeking more money for a joint defence, with poorer nations determined to keep their generous EU payouts.
But the so-called ‘frugal four’ of Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden are unwilling to pay more to plug the gap.
I’m heartbroken. Really I am. No! Really I am.
Ok, ok, oh dear, how sad, never mind…
Delicious! 🙂
I’m surprised that we aren’t still paying in as part of the withdrawal agreement. Having said that my next reaction was hahahahahaha.
I have been having a slight problem getting onto the comments page here. Clicking the menu button seems to sort it.
I’m not sure I understand what’s going on here. You should get the comments box at the bottom of the post.
If I click on the post I get the full article that is below the fold but nothing below that. If I drag on the menu button I get a little wheel for a while and then the blue line across the top, it then opens the page as normal. Sometimes it needs several attempts.
How odd. I’ve no idea what is going on here as I cannot replicate it and I’ve not seen it myself before.
This morning it seems to have sorted itself out.
This is simply exquisite!
Those who pay will have to pay more. Those who get bungs are going to have to live with less. That is all there is to it.
The EU has always been about greed and national self interest and this farce illustrates just how grotesquely we have been taken to the cleaners over the years.
To hell with the EU, to absolute hell with it.
I do feel a twinge of sympathy for the “frugal four” though, as the reality is that these relatively small nations almost certainly will be thrown under the bus to keep the gravy train going.
Not if they leave.
I’m sure the fanatical Remainers will be having a whip round to keep their beloved EU afloat.
Can’t they just take Juncker’s empties back for the deposit? That should go a long way to sorting it.
But how can this be? Everyone – everyone! – said that that bus was a lie. The EU was so generous to us. So how can they be short of money? It doesn’t make any sense.
Snerk!
These people don’t live in the same dimension as the rest of us. Just watched a Sargon video that is bizarre to say the least. Worth watching. The mindsets on display are bordering on the insane.
How many euros has Scotland got in it’s piggy bank? If it’s enough to plug the gap they’ll be welcome with open arms, but I have a feeling our dear cousins up north, are looking for hand outs if they join!
Scotland come to your senses and stick with the U.K.
No, No and No – Miss Fishy should win her referendum and leave. Whether or not Brussels will make up for the loss of the Barnet money is not England’s problem.
My thinking is that the Scots do not want independence … hear me out.
If they did, then instead of taking the position that the decision is Scotland’s and only Scotland’s business, they said “This means the break up of the UK, so everyone in the UK should have a say”, I can’t see many Englishmen voting to retain the Union. Left to me, I’d give them independence and their proportion of the national debt, repatriate all the jobs given to Scotland to keep them sweet (all the tax offices around Linlithgow, the nuclear submarine base at Faslane, shipbuilding and all the rest of the Government jobs) and let them get on with it.
They will still whinge and whine about the English for the next 2,000 years but at least England would not be paying for them through subsidies, the Barnett formula etc.
I think Finexit or Nexit are definitely possibilities….
With a bit of luck, we’ve triggered a chain reaction.
Ireland is on the list. They are distinctly unhappy about becoming a net contributor to the EU.