They want WHAT!

[Théière]

So the EU wants hard working country Britain to pay 1.7 Billion so the sit on your behind we Won't change our ways French Strike, strike, strike, lefty handout brigade get a reward for not doing anything to help their economy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/11184044/EU-makes-Britain-pay-for-recovery.html

Well that should help N Farage's campaign

France should be fined for holding back the EU recovery, after all they want an EU to take on other superpowers and you can't do that by holding back. And to think the french finance minister and EU bank official had the temerity to criticise OUR recovery.  Maybe they should be out of work and replacements found who bring about the changes we don't like either in Britain but have to put up with in the name of business and recovery.

[Pierre ZFP]

Complete madness, I heard someone trying to explain it on the BBC this morning and I'm still no wiser.

If I heard right, France and Germany are getting a whopping rebate whereas Britain, Netherlands and would you believe GREECE have to pay more.

Incredible !

[EuroTrash]

Is there no transparency about how these charges are calculated? No signed treaty or anything?

If it's calculated like tax and the more you earn the more you pay, nobody should have been surprised by it.

If not, it's incredible that you join a club without knowing what the subscription is.

[Théière]

No Eurotrash, the club has changed the rules now and then applied them retrospectively!  (as far back as 1995) So a club I would leave if they keep ammending the rules to suit only two powers one being France, Germany have been busy proping up the EU and other countries so can't really blame them for being behind.

[Daft Doctor]

Some smart ar*ed EU commission member tried to say it was no different in principal to someone in the UK being asked to pay more income tax because they'd earned more. The thing with income tax of course is that no-one cares how the money was earned, and you aren't as an individual being compared to the others around you nor are you considered to be part of a bigger group.

The fact is, as others have said, the UK have pulled their finger out and through tough budgetary measures and austerity have pulled things round. That the UK should be penalised financially for this and the French rebated when they have done f-all to cut spending and encourage growth is quite simply outrageous, especially when the EU commission doesn't even need this extra money. Every time this sort of stunt gets pulled by Brussels, the chances of the UK staying in Europe in the long-term gets more and more remote. It could literally boil down to who wins the UK election in May!

[Pickles]

One of the significant changes in the measures is the inclusion of an estimate of the "black" economy (which includes illegal activities such as prostitution). Bearing in mind these are revenue streams which by their very definition tend to be untaxed, it is a little difficult to understand how the exchequer is supposed to pay what is effectively a tax on revenue on which tax has not been gathered. I would also want to closely scrutinise the basis on which the differing contributions of the illegal economy in different countries have been calculated ...

The timing of this stunt could not be worse for those trying to promote staying in the EU ...

[Théière]

So true Pickles, and whilst I don't know the rules on prostitution in France there are numbers of ladies in a crowd in numerous layby's (appt term) as I drive across France. Oh and one big Mumma for chubby chasers [+o(]

[NormanH]

The fact is, as others have said, the UK have pulled their finger out

and through tough budgetary measures and austerity have pulled things

round

Other facts: (from the Telegraph so not overtly pro-France)

The dire figures for the UK came on the day that the European authorities

released their own regional figures. The eurozone’s deficit fell from 3.6pc

of GDP in 2012 to 2.9pc in 2013; for the EU as a whole, the deficit improved

from 4.2pc of GDP to 3.2pc. In both cases, these numbers put the UK – which

came in on a deficit of 5.8pc of GDP on these figures – to shame. We were

beaten by – among others – Luxembourg, Germany, Estonia, Denmark, Latvia,

Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Ireland , Croatia, Cyprus, Portugal,

France and Poland.

As to the national debt, on the Eurostat definition, it rose from 89.0pc of

GDP in 2012 to 90.9pc in 2013 in the eurozone and from 83.5pc to 85.4pc for

the EU as a whole. Britain’s national debt hit 87.2pc of GDP on these

figures, worse than the EU average and rising at a faster rate.

How have things been pulled round when the debt is worse than all those countries?

[Pickles]

[quote user="NormanH"]Other facts: (from the Telegraph so not overtly pro-France)

The dire figures for the UK came on the day that the European authorities

released their own regional figures. The eurozone’s deficit fell from 3.6pc

of GDP in 2012 to 2.9pc in 2013; for the EU as a whole, the deficit improved

from 4.2pc of GDP to 3.2pc. In both cases, these numbers put the UK – which

came in on a deficit of 5.8pc of GDP on these figures – to shame. We were

beaten by – among others – Luxembourg, Germany, Estonia, Denmark, Latvia,

Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Ireland , Croatia, Cyprus, Portugal,

France and Poland.

As to the national debt, on the Eurostat definition, it rose from 89.0pc of

GDP in 2012 to 90.9pc in 2013 in the eurozone and from 83.5pc to 85.4pc for

the EU as a whole. Britain’s national debt hit 87.2pc of GDP on these

figures, worse than the EU average and rising at a faster rate.

How have things been pulled round when the debt is worse than all those countries?[/quote]

Ah, well, you see it's obvious, innit? Those of us in the UK are feeling so much better than we were, and have so much more money than we had, and have now such relatively low unemployment, with all those in employment of course being paid the full minimum wage, it stands to reason that we must be doing better than Johnny Foreigner - the government has told us this, and they wouldn't be in the business of telling porkies, would they? That would be unethical and OUR politicians wouldn't stoop so low ....

Sorry, can't keep it up ...

[Théière]

I love the way you put that Pickles!  and Norman, I read your post the other day and when I started this thread I was wondering how the EU could possibly have put a spin on it, still wondering but it's time to exhume Maggie and I never thought I would say that!

[halfblind]

[quote user="Théière"]I love the way you put that Pickles!  and Norman, I read your post the other day and when I started this thread I was wondering how the EU could possibly have put a spin on it, still wondering but it's time to exhume Maggie and I never thought I would say that!

[/quote]

No, never, not HER !

I assume that the UK will ignore this demand from the Commission and therefore place it alongside all the other countries that dont implement EU regs. Its like forgetting to pay your taxes really ;-)

[AnOther]

I'm not sure why anybody should be surprised at this news ?

For the European Community to function requires that members work together and support each other and on that basis there is nothing remotely strange or even unusual about the proposal.

Germany has been paying out like this seemingly forever so they for one won't take kindly to another member else who's doing better baulking at being asked to contribute.

Neither defending nor criticising, just saying !

Manna from heaven for Nige though and for the weak and narrow minded inclined to support his policies.

[Patf]

Pickles [:D]

Exactly what husband said when he heard the news this morning!

[EuroTrash]

+1 to AnOther's post I'm afraid.

You can't form a liaison and expect all the favours to flow one way - you hope to get handouts from richer members when you need help, and you expect to have to help them out when things change and you're doing better than them. If pigs fly, and it turns out that the UK growth is a bubble which in due course bursts as bubbles do, and France keeps plodding along and gets there, will the UK say 'oh no you can't possibly give us all that aid, it's not right'?

Of course if I lived in the UK, I might see it differently ;)

I'm actually quite confused about why most forum members are so concerned about the UK economy and take UK viewpoint rather than the French viewpoint. Does anybody know roughly what proportion of members of live on the north side of the Channel?

[Daft Doctor]

Point taken Norman, but the fact that the UK debt level is so high means that every bit of national economic growth and income are desperately needed to improve that situation over time. The UK economy is growing at a much faster rate than that of the Eurozone, but that growth and the policies underpinning it are vital to get debt levels down. The UK has implemented measures based on its own economic situation, and are having some success. As usual, Brussels are applying blanket rules to countries which are at least in economic and (to some extent) cultural terms very different.

[Théière]

I well remeber the criticism of Greece as it threatened to cause a break up of the EU from several forum members over the fact they refused to compromise.  I doubt we will hear the same now it's France still refusing or even knowing how to change.  Reward for effort in this situation not reward for doing nothing France's only solution is to tax more heavily rather than change non working policies.  Germany by contrast changes as it needs to, helps out the whole EU and rightly deserves some support back if the qualifying rules dictate.

I can't wait for France to host the Olympics, award Gold to last and silver to 2nd to last. Honestly EU draft up a plan, enforce it and monitor performance if it shows improvement then maybe a reward to help out further but just handing over money is exactly what Germany refused to do to Greece so I am not surprised there is some backlash over this and dubious calculations carried out as Norman posted UK isn't doing that well yet so just change the figures and then back date it, that's piracy!

[Frederick]

The UK should agree to pay it ........on the day France gets her finances in order to comply with EU rules ..Simple .......it never gets paid !

Daft Doctor wrote : As usual, Brussels are applying blanket rules to countries which are at least in economic and (to some extent) cultural terms very different.

Do you mean just like the Kremlin did in

the good old days . ?

[powerdesal]

''I'm actually quite confused about why most forum members are so concerned about the UK economy and take UK viewpoint rather than the French viewpoint.''

Perhaps some of us who live in France still have concerns for our Country and family + friends who live there.

Just because we live in France does not make us French - we never will be.

[halfblind]

As the UK government in the form of the Bank of England has been printing money, calling it quantitive easing, why not print the money Brussels wants and take it over in several suitcases and drop it on J-C Junkers desk.

Simples !

[DerekJ]

It needs Cameron to have the b*lls to say "NO, we won't pay" and actually mean it. Not just give us sound bites about not paying but to actually not pay.