Labour calls for EU budget cut

Labour have called for a real-terms cut in the budget of the European Union. The Prime Minister has agreed to a 2% rise in budget, 3% less than the European Commission asked for, but Ed Balls says it is time for the EU to adapt to austere conditions.

Labour: Cameron 'ill-equipped' to push EU spending reforms

Prime Minister David Cameron is accused of alienating European partners
Prime Minister David Cameron is accused of alienating European partners Credit: Press Association

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander have hit out at David Cameron's posturing against the EU, accusing him of alienating European partners and minimising the UK's influence.

In an article in The Times they said he is "ill-equipped" to push through vital spending reforms:

"Sadly for both Britain and Europe, Mr Cameron looks ill-equipped to fulfil that role. A failure to deliver the necessary restraint and reforms will be a missed opportunity for Europe, a setback for Britain and a personal failure for the Prime Minister."

Labour calls for EU to make spending reforms

In a joint article written in The Times Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander have called for the European Union to spend less money, and to reallocate how it spends money.

They supported plans to overhaul the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as they called the current subsidies "a waste" of money that does not create jobs. They said:

Far too much money still goes on agricultural subsidies, instead of on policies to promote growth, cohesion and development or to support the EU’s vital role in international affairs

So further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must not just be discussed but implemented.

The CAP amounts to about £45 billion and the UK makes a net contribution of about £1 billion per year. Although the butter mountains of the past are long gone, the need for reform is no less urgent. The CAP is an obstacle to international trade liberalisation, creates too few jobs and introduces distortions so there is not a level playing field. The EU cannot afford this waste.

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Labour calls for cut in European Union budget

Ed Balls
Ed Balls and Douglas Alexander write in The Times this morning that Europe must spend less Credit: Press Association

Labour have called for the Government's funding of the European Union to be cut. In an article in The Times Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Douglas Alexander said Europe must "spend less and spend differently."

"The crisis in the eurozone and a chronic lack of growth across the Continent mean that EU resources are stretched and priorities must be revised. The challenge for the EU, as for national governments, is to cut spending in a way that is both fair and supports rather than stifles jobs and growth."

"The priority for the new seven-year budget must be to promote growth and jobs across Europe. And that is why Labour will argue against the proposed increase in EU spending and instead support a real-terms cut in the budget."