EU to ask more UK spending on refugee crisis
Britain is likely to face more budget demands from the European Union (EU) as Brussels looks set to ask member-states for more money to handle the unfolding migrant crisis.
The European Parliament has passed a resolution demanding greater spending that if implemented will challenger British Prime Minister David Cameron’s historic cut to the seven-year EU budget, which was capped at £847 billion until 2020, according to the Telegraph.
Kristalina Georgieva, the EU vice president for budgets, warned last week that EU members should be “making room for new commitments.”
"We have to make sure that our budget for next year absorbs all the commitments made so far to deal with the migration crisis, while at the same time making room for new commitments,” Georgieva told the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
This means that London might be asked to increase its current annual net contributions of £10.4 billion.
Europe is facing an unprecedented influx of refugees, who are fleeing conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria.
Many blame major European powers for the unprecedented exodus, saying their policies have led to a surge in terrorism and war in those regions, forcing more people to flee their homes.
The UK’s contributions to the 28-member bloc are a hot topic in the debates concerning the country’s EU membership which is to be decided in a June 23 referendum.
Supporters of the so-called Brexit option argue that Britain’s yearly contributions to the EU would be better spent directly on the National Health Service (NHS) and school system.
Meanwhile, Cameron’s government has delayed voting on the seven-year EU budget, in a move that critics say is designed to avoid giving ammunition to Leave campaigners.
EU auditors have warned that that weaknesses over the coordination of funds and performance information were “likely to persist,” despite the European Commission’s new guidance for the 2014-2020 program of works.
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader who has spearheaded the campaign to leave the EU, denounced the Commission over the report, it was acting like a “thirsty vampire” and that it would continue to “get stuck into British taxpayers’ necks” unless they voted to leave.
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