28/10/2016 Politics Europe


28/10/2016

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Hello, and welcome to Politics Europe.

:00:37.:00:38.

The CETA trade deal between Canada and the EU

:00:39.:00:43.

looks set to be agreed after the leaders of five regional

:00:44.:00:47.

parliaments in Belgium drop their opposition

:00:48.:00:48.

MEPs demand an increase in the EU budget for next year but,

:00:49.:00:55.

with sterling weak against the euro, will the UK's contribution have

:00:56.:00:58.

And the president of the European Parliament,

:00:59.:01:05.

Martin Schulz, refers an altercation between two UKIP MEPs

:01:06.:01:08.

So all that to come and more in the next half an hour.

:01:09.:01:21.

to the latest from Europe in just 60 seconds:

:01:22.:01:28.

A trade deal between the EU and Canada

:01:29.:01:30.

is back on the table, after Belgian politicians agreed

:01:31.:01:33.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau says he's confident

:01:34.:01:37.

Meanwhile, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Norway can

:01:38.:01:45.

extend their use of border controls, which have been in place

:01:46.:01:48.

since the summer, to stem the flow of migrants.

:01:49.:01:51.

Speaking of which, Italy may veto the EU budget unless other

:01:52.:01:54.

countries take in more asylum seekers.

:01:55.:01:57.

PM Matteo Renzi said the likes of Hungary need to help out.

:01:58.:02:01.

Big companies like Starbucks and Apple could be subject

:02:02.:02:03.

to new EU-wide tax rules, which the Commission hopes

:02:04.:02:06.

could stop them shifting their profits around

:02:07.:02:08.

And the President of the European Parliament

:02:09.:02:17.

referred the altercation between UKIP MEPs Mike Hookem

:02:18.:02:19.

and Steven Woolfe to French authorities.

:02:20.:02:22.

Party leader Nigel Farage was not impressed.

:02:23.:02:24.

This is completely political on behalf of the European Union.

:02:25.:02:27.

And with us for the next 30 minutes I've been joined by two MEPs,

:02:28.:02:41.

Labour's Seb Dance and Patrick O'Flynn for UKIP.

:02:42.:02:43.

Now, let's take a look at one of those stories in more

:02:44.:02:47.

detail, the investigations into the altercation between UKIP

:02:48.:02:49.

Patrick O'Flynn, first of all, obviously

:02:50.:02:55.

there has been an internal investigation by UKIP.

:02:56.:02:57.

And now we know that the President of

:02:58.:03:01.

the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, has reported

:03:02.:03:03.

the altercation to the French state prosecutors, because there

:03:04.:03:06.

was alleged criminal activity on parliamentary premises.

:03:07.:03:07.

Ah, well, another thing Martin Schulz has

:03:08.:03:16.

done is prejudiced any investigation by saying in the parliament he had

:03:17.:03:20.

no doubt about Mr Woolfe's allegations.

:03:21.:03:23.

And I find that very regrettable and very remiss because,

:03:24.:03:29.

unlike Mr Schulz, I saw, if you like, the preamble -

:03:30.:03:32.

not the amble, but the preamble - to this.

:03:33.:03:34.

And if you read Paul Oakden, the party chairman's,

:03:35.:03:37.

within the room there was a general understanding

:03:38.:03:40.

that Mr Woolfe had instigated this altercation.

:03:41.:03:46.

Well, there was an understanding that he had said, "Come out.

:03:47.:03:50.

Let's take this outside," and removed his jacket.

:03:51.:03:52.

But nobody knows what actually happened between the two men.

:03:53.:03:54.

Or whether a blow was delivered on to Mr Woolfe's face.

:03:55.:03:58.

What we do know is the very next day in the Daily Mail,

:03:59.:04:02.

there were quotes from Mr Woolfe saying Mike Hookem

:04:03.:04:05.

had got the wrong end of the stick and he wasn't challenging him

:04:06.:04:08.

But within the room, that was completely understood

:04:09.:04:11.

that he was and there were shouts of, "Oh,no.

:04:12.:04:14.

So a reprimand for Mike Hookem is enough in your view, is it?

:04:15.:04:19.

Or should there be further investigation?

:04:20.:04:21.

Um, well, it's quite astonishing, really, if you have two grown

:04:22.:04:26.

adults who are unable to reconcile their differences

:04:27.:04:29.

in a normal way, and if you have a criminal assault taking place

:04:30.:04:33.

whether it be on parliament property or

:04:34.:04:36.

Then it would seem normal that the authorities

:04:37.:04:41.

would want to pursue, you know, potential prosecutions,

:04:42.:04:44.

were it proven to be something that would be worthy

:04:45.:04:47.

But, I mean, you know, presumably, we can't

:04:48.:04:51.

leave it up to individual political parties to release internal reports

:04:52.:04:54.

on what are potentially criminal investigations.

:04:55.:04:58.

What does it say about the behaviour of your party,

:04:59.:05:01.

though, Patrick, at the European Parliament?

:05:02.:05:04.

Manfred Weber, the leader of the Parliament's

:05:05.:05:09.

centre-right European People's Party Group,

:05:10.:05:10.

accused UKIP MEPs of behaving like ruffians.

:05:11.:05:14.

Well, yeah - you should add "federalist" European People's

:05:15.:05:16.

he's allowed to call you ruffians if he wants.

:05:17.:05:21.

What it says about us, Carolyn, I would suggest,

:05:22.:05:24.

I mean, after all, several Labour MPs got

:05:25.:05:28.

sent to prison for embezzlement in the last parliament.

:05:29.:05:31.

I would not dream of characterising the Labour Party

:05:32.:05:33.

It does seem like they put something in the UKIP tea

:05:34.:05:38.

in the European Parliament, though, doesn't it?

:05:39.:05:40.

not just there, but over here as well.

:05:41.:05:43.

You're an argumentative party, aren't you?

:05:44.:05:45.

Well, I think we're a party of honest, free debate.

:05:46.:05:48.

But, really, trying to characterise physical altercations,

:05:49.:05:50.

or invitations to, as typical of the meetings we have

:05:51.:05:52.

in the European Parliament, I can assure you it's absolutely atypical.

:05:53.:05:57.

The one thing I would like to come out of this is some recognition

:05:58.:06:01.

by Steven Woolfe of personal responsibility and regret.

:06:02.:06:05.

Oh, well, now you're prejudicing the outcome,

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aren't you, by saying it's his fault?

:06:08.:06:09.

No. No.

:06:10.:06:11.

Mike Hookem has expressed regret and apologised.

:06:12.:06:13.

I think Steven Woolfe should do as well.

:06:14.:06:17.

Just looking at the leadership now, are you supporting Suzanne Evans

:06:18.:06:20.

I certainly am supporting Suzanne, yes.

:06:21.:06:23.

Paul Nuttall, obviously, he and she are close.

:06:24.:06:25.

What happens then, I mean, if one is obviously ahead

:06:26.:06:29.

I think she should have been allowed to stand

:06:30.:06:35.

What I'm delighted about is we have two very

:06:36.:06:39.

high-calibre heavyweight candidates, either of whom...

:06:40.:06:41.

I've always been clear that I see my role as advising,

:06:42.:06:46.

perhaps in a spokesman's role, but advising the leader,

:06:47.:06:49.

I think it's - I've seen, you know, the pressure Nigel Farage was placed

:06:50.:06:57.

under, the sheer intensity of the job, and, you know,

:06:58.:07:00.

After years of negotiations, a trade deal between the EU

:07:01.:07:06.

and Canada is on the verge of being approved by the European Union,

:07:07.:07:09.

but it has been a bumpy few weeks for

:07:10.:07:12.

the CETA trade agreement, with politicians in the Belgian

:07:13.:07:14.

region of Wallonia refusing to agree to the deal

:07:15.:07:17.

The problems even caused European Council President Donald Tusk

:07:18.:07:25.

to warn the agreement could be the EU's last trade deal.

:07:26.:07:28.

It's cast a cloud over the European Union.

:07:29.:07:35.

A long-heralded trade deal that's been agonisingly close,

:07:36.:07:38.

CETA has been seven years in the making, a deal between Canada

:07:39.:07:46.

it needs the backing of all 28 EU member states

:07:47.:07:51.

and it's got the backing of 27 of them.

:07:52.:07:57.

The sticking point was Belgium, and specifically the southern part

:07:58.:07:59.

Now, that's home to around 3.5 million people

:08:00.:08:06.

which, when you think about it, is quite a small proportion

:08:07.:08:09.

of the overall population of the EU, which is 500 million.

:08:10.:08:12.

The Wallonian regional government, headed up by Paul Magnette,

:08:13.:08:15.

on the environment, labour laws and consumer standards,

:08:16.:08:24.

concerns shared by some MEPs, who say the stalling of the deal

:08:25.:08:27.

I think that is a good thing for European Union and for citizens

:08:28.:08:34.

also - not each member state has got the same possibility.

:08:35.:08:37.

In Italy, we haven't this chance and so often,

:08:38.:08:40.

we see that our interests are not covered by our

:08:41.:08:43.

Others aren't so against CETA in principle, but say this

:08:44.:08:51.

is the latest symptom of an anti-EU malaise and must be addressed

:08:52.:08:54.

for the institution to have a future.

:08:55.:08:58.

I do see that this adds up to crisis after crisis after crisis.

:08:59.:09:07.

Um, and people see again that the Council is not able

:09:08.:09:10.

But on trade, at the same time, you see that there's a lot

:09:11.:09:19.

of discussions and there's a lot of question marks in the NGO world,

:09:20.:09:23.

in the unions, but also in the public opinion.

:09:24.:09:25.

We need to say stop, and look at it fundamentally

:09:26.:09:28.

But those supporting CETA say the agreement would save EU

:09:29.:09:34.

exporters 500 million euros a year, a good deal for the whole of Europe,

:09:35.:09:38.

and one that's been held up by a small minority.

:09:39.:09:41.

But they say the fault lies with the Belgian

:09:42.:09:43.

constitution, and a lack of compromise on the socialist left,

:09:44.:09:46.

If there are a number of regions which have concerns,

:09:47.:09:53.

then, yes, we should go back to the table and check is this

:09:54.:09:56.

But after so many concerns have been, um, solved,

:09:57.:10:00.

after we were able to convince so many people who had concerns

:10:01.:10:04.

like the German Economic Minister Gabriel

:10:05.:10:06.

or the Austrian Chancellor Kern, to mention only two of them,

:10:07.:10:09.

If they understood what is CETA about and what is CETA

:10:10.:10:14.

not about, then I think also regional Belgium should be able

:10:15.:10:17.

There's renewed hope now that the deal will be

:10:18.:10:24.

signed in the coming weeks, but those frustrated by the slow

:10:25.:10:27.

progress point out that Canada is about as like-minded to most EU

:10:28.:10:30.

countries in terms of public services and environmental concerns

:10:31.:10:32.

If the EU had such trouble making a deal work with Canada,

:10:33.:10:37.

it may not bode well for trade agreements with other

:10:38.:10:39.

The EU had hoped to unfurl its red carpet for the Canadian Premier

:10:40.:10:45.

Justin Trudeau this week so he could sign off the deal.

:10:46.:10:48.

When he does finally make it over, it will be too late to stop

:10:49.:10:55.

the questions over the EU's ability to negotiate

:10:56.:10:57.

Ellie Price reporting, and we've been joined now

:10:58.:11:05.

a former trade adviser to the Canadian government,

:11:06.:11:08.

who worked for many years on the CETA trade deal.

:11:09.:11:12.

You must be mopping your brow in exasperation,

:11:13.:11:14.

Did you think it would be a little bit quicker than it has been?

:11:15.:11:22.

Well, we'd been pursuing this agreement since 2009

:11:23.:11:24.

the way, we understood when Europe decided that this would be viewed

:11:25.:11:32.

as a mixed agreement, that there could

:11:33.:11:34.

be snags and it could require - because it would require approval

:11:35.:11:37.

at the member-state level as well, um,

:11:38.:11:40.

but, um, I think we've learned to be patient and I think

:11:41.:11:43.

The final last-minute changes still need to be approved

:11:44.:11:46.

Do you share the Canadian Prime Minister's confidence

:11:47.:11:51.

In fact there aren't last-minute changes right now.

:11:52.:11:57.

There is simply an agreement between Belgium, the EU

:11:58.:12:02.

and this Wallonian - about certain steps that will be

:12:03.:12:04.

taken with regard to the implementation of the agreement.

:12:05.:12:07.

Those steps were already understood, for example,

:12:08.:12:09.

that things that were exclusively within the EU competency would be

:12:10.:12:19.

provisionally entering into force, but other elements would

:12:20.:12:21.

They've also requested a reference to the European Court

:12:22.:12:24.

with regard to one aspect of the agreement, the investment

:12:25.:12:27.

Um, but 90% of the agreement will be entering provisionally into force

:12:28.:12:32.

once this last approval goes through.

:12:33.:12:33.

Dragging it down to basics, though, Wallonia effectively wanted

:12:34.:12:37.

guarantees that this deal wouldn't lead to privatisation and job losses

:12:38.:12:40.

and, effectively, it was almost derailed at the final hour

:12:41.:12:43.

I mean, are you surprised that a deal of this magnitude could come

:12:44.:12:51.

down to such a tiny element blocking it?

:12:52.:12:55.

In trade negotiations, usually one goes from the broader,

:12:56.:12:59.

easier issues, to the last-nub issues.

:13:00.:13:01.

And in a sense, this was just a microcosm of that typical dynamic

:13:02.:13:08.

Because the European Union this past summer gave member

:13:09.:13:13.

states the right to approve the agreement, as opposed to it

:13:14.:13:18.

being approved exclusively at the European level,

:13:19.:13:20.

it gave power to these smaller subregions in Belgium to,

:13:21.:13:23.

um, express concerns and farming is very important in Wallonia,

:13:24.:13:26.

They gave them the power and they exercised it.

:13:27.:13:34.

Well, putting that point, then, to you, Patrick O'Flynn,

:13:35.:13:36.

I mean, doesn't this then add into those

:13:37.:13:40.

concerns that people have had about the difficulties of securing

:13:41.:13:42.

trade deals if you have to have widespread

:13:43.:13:45.

approval and a tiny group - one tiny group in one country can

:13:46.:13:48.

It's not going to be that easy, is it?

:13:49.:13:54.

Well, I'd like to congratulate Christophe for concluding this deal,

:13:55.:13:56.

a free trade agreement with the EU, which doesn't

:13:57.:14:00.

have a requirement of freedom of movement, which is the majority

:14:01.:14:03.

I think you're wrong to draw a parallel to the United Kingdom's

:14:04.:14:07.

I think in round terms, Canada is approximately a 35 billion

:14:08.:14:16.

euro a year export market for the EU, the United Kingdom

:14:17.:14:23.

is a 350 billion euro a year export market for the EU.

:14:24.:14:26.

But my point is that a deal can be derailed by the tiniest element.

:14:27.:14:30.

We cannot just assume that these trade deals are going to be so easy

:14:31.:14:34.

Well, it's certainly true that that Article 50 process could get very

:14:35.:14:39.

complicated and convoluted which is why I would prefer

:14:40.:14:41.

something that I think John Redwood and Peter Lilley

:14:42.:14:44.

have alluded to, a sort of "look in the eyeball" and say,

:14:45.:14:47.

"We're quite happy to move on with free strayed

:14:48.:14:49.

And of course there was a Civitas report at the beginning of the week

:14:50.:14:55.

that made clear that if we moved to the WTO regime,

:14:56.:14:58.

our exporters would face ?5.2 billion of tariffs,

:14:59.:15:00.

but the United Kingdom would raise 13...

:15:01.:15:02.

Or 10% tariffs on the car industry which of course...

:15:03.:15:13.

But obviously our car-producers vis the Nissan deal

:15:14.:15:15.

are very confident about the continued good place to be

:15:16.:15:18.

to produce motorcars in the United Kingdom.

:15:19.:15:20.

Let me bring Seb in here - is this a moment for the EU to think

:15:21.:15:24.

about streamlining its processes when it comes to striking trade

:15:25.:15:27.

I think there'll certainly be a lot of questions raised as to how

:15:28.:15:31.

we can make it more efficient and speed it up, but ultimately

:15:32.:15:34.

a lot of the criticism that's been levelled

:15:35.:15:36.

at the EU has been the lack of democracy and the lack of ability

:15:37.:15:40.

of people to have a say on decisions that affect big issues like trade.

:15:41.:15:44.

And of course here we have, as you say, a bunch of farmers -

:15:45.:15:48.

but ultimately people with a key stake

:15:49.:15:50.

in what the outcome of this deal is...

:15:51.:15:52.

And who were worried about their livelihoods.

:15:53.:15:54.

And they were able to do that and they've been able to do that

:15:55.:15:58.

and there is a democratic structure within the Belgian constitution that

:15:59.:16:01.

Ultimately that should be something that ought to be

:16:02.:16:04.

welcomed by those who have been calling for increased parliamentary

:16:05.:16:07.

I mean they exist and they're implemented.

:16:08.:16:10.

Christophe Bonde, the International Trade Secretary here, Liam Fox,

:16:11.:16:13.

has said that a trade deal during the Article 50 two-year

:16:14.:16:16.

negotiation process requires only a qualified majority in the Council.

:16:17.:16:19.

But could it fall subject to the Wallonia problem?

:16:20.:16:21.

In other words, could a trade deal then have to go

:16:22.:16:24.

on to be approved by all the individual states?

:16:25.:16:26.

Well, I think the issue with modern trade agreements

:16:27.:16:29.

is that, unlike old-school trade agreements that dealt exclusively

:16:30.:16:31.

with tariffs and goods, these agreements are much more

:16:32.:16:34.

complex and the issue at the European level

:16:35.:16:36.

is that they spill over from purely European to member-state competency,

:16:37.:16:39.

which requires consultation and requires approval at times

:16:40.:16:41.

So, you know, I don't want to speak to the

:16:42.:16:47.

deal to be struck between Britain and the EU, but in any kind

:16:48.:16:52.

of agreement that the EU is going to be

:16:53.:16:56.

pursuing, it's going to touch on more than just those core trade

:16:57.:16:59.

Um, I think it's going to likely require, um,

:17:00.:17:02.

larger, certainly larger consultation and perhaps larger,

:17:03.:17:04.

People might wonder if the EU can't make a deal with Canada,

:17:05.:17:13.

Well, I think the thing is that trade deals right now,

:17:14.:17:18.

and this trade deal with Canada, was kind of the canary in the mine,

:17:19.:17:22.

because people have suddenly become much more aware of the broad range

:17:23.:17:25.

of issues that are raised in these agreements.

:17:26.:17:28.

They deal not only, as I say, with tariffs, but also with trades

:17:29.:17:32.

and services, with regulatory co-operation.

:17:33.:17:33.

They don't force any regulatory change.

:17:34.:17:35.

They just simply engage different economic spheres in a conversation

:17:36.:17:38.

to see if those regulatory barriers can be smoothed

:17:39.:17:42.

They also, um, you know, allow the states -

:17:43.:17:48.

they don't force privatisation either.

:17:49.:17:50.

You know, there are a lot of misconceptions, so I think a lot

:17:51.:17:57.

of those discussions are taking place

:17:58.:18:01.

around the CETA and hopefully going forward the general public

:18:02.:18:04.

will have a better sense of what they actually

:18:05.:18:06.

entail and be will be more confident.

:18:07.:18:08.

Certainly in Canada right now, there's a broad debate

:18:09.:18:11.

about the link between trade and the social agenda,

:18:12.:18:13.

to help people understand and be confident about

:18:14.:18:16.

their future, because they know that that trade agenda is also linked

:18:17.:18:19.

So maybe make these trade deals, explain them a little bit more

:18:20.:18:24.

Christophe Bondy, thank you very much indeed.

:18:25.:18:27.

Now, this week, MEPs demanded an increase to the EU's budget

:18:28.:18:30.

At more than 160 billion euros, it's an increase on last year,

:18:31.:18:35.

but concerns are also growing about a possible

:18:36.:18:38.

shortfall this year, with the slump in sterling's

:18:39.:18:40.

exchange rate meaning that UK's contribution

:18:41.:18:42.

is worth almost 2 billion euros less than forecast.

:18:43.:18:47.

Ellie Price has been talking to the German MEP Jens Geier,

:18:48.:18:50.

who is leading the budget negotiations on behalf

:18:51.:18:52.

She began by asking him why MEPs are asking for more money this year.

:18:53.:18:57.

We are asking for sufficient money in order to fulfil

:18:58.:19:02.

what member states demand from the European Union.

:19:03.:19:08.

Um, you cannot really make working for

:19:09.:19:12.

jobs and growth and, um, trying to cope with the migration

:19:13.:19:15.

crisis a priority and then do not handle it,

:19:16.:19:21.

um, like a priority in terms of giving sufficient means.

:19:22.:19:24.

Now, one of the problems you face is the weaker

:19:25.:19:27.

pound and obviously that's lowering the contributions that Britain has

:19:28.:19:31.

How much of a problem is that for you and what are you going

:19:32.:19:37.

So the exchange rate on which the contributions

:19:38.:19:41.

from Great Britain are measured is set on the 31st of December 2015,

:19:42.:19:44.

and after the Brexit, as you perfectly know,

:19:45.:19:49.

the pound sterling went down.

:19:50.:19:52.

So now it coasts Britain 10% more in pounds sterling

:19:53.:19:59.

to fulfil its obligations in euros and that creates a deficit

:20:00.:20:04.

and deficits are not allowed, so we cannot close the budget year

:20:05.:20:09.

Um, the Commission now calculates the deficit with 1.8 billion euros

:20:10.:20:23.

and there are three, um, possibilities to cover that and none

:20:24.:20:27.

First - ask the British for more money.

:20:28.:20:32.

Second - ask the other member states to cover the British,

:20:33.:20:35.

And third - let's find money in the European budget.

:20:36.:20:43.

We have some time to go until the end of the year,

:20:44.:20:49.

The pound sterling recovers a little bit.

:20:50.:20:53.

Maybe there are more finds coming in.

:20:54.:20:57.

But it would cover today about two-thirds of it.

:20:58.:21:00.

I could imagine some, some sort of burden-sharing

:21:01.:21:03.

between the UK and the other member states.

:21:04.:21:06.

Britain will leave the EU in just over two years' time and take

:21:07.:21:12.

Well, it will go along with the renegotiation

:21:13.:21:18.

of the multi-annual financial framework

:21:19.:21:21.

and that would mean that all - what the EU is giving money

:21:22.:21:26.

for is renegotiated, every contribution is renegotiated

:21:27.:21:30.

in terms of paying and in terms of getting the money.

:21:31.:21:37.

So it would be a perfect possibility to just recalculate what does

:21:38.:21:43.

the European member states want from EU,

:21:44.:21:46.

how much money are they ready to give, and how will be

:21:47.:21:50.

the burden-sharing between the 27 remainers.

:21:51.:21:53.

So my feeling is it might be a little bit more for the other

:21:54.:21:59.

So it could mean a major overhaul of...

:22:00.:22:06.

So Britain's leaving the EU will have a major impact

:22:07.:22:13.

Now, Seb Dance, he laid out three possible scenarios,

:22:14.:22:26.

didn't he, to cover this shortfall - ask the British for more money,

:22:27.:22:30.

get the EU nations to cover, or seek money out of the current EU budget.

:22:31.:22:34.

Well, um, it remains to be seen, obviously, what collectively will be

:22:35.:22:39.

seen as the best of those three options.

:22:40.:22:43.

What do you think would be the best option?

:22:44.:22:45.

Obviously, nobody wants, to advocate paying more

:22:46.:22:47.

money and, as a group in the European Parliament,

:22:48.:22:50.

we voted to not increase the budget because we don't

:22:51.:22:53.

believe that we should be paying more money in real terms

:22:54.:22:56.

But I mean, obviously, when we have a situation

:22:57.:23:02.

when the pound has lost so much in its value internationally,

:23:03.:23:05.

you know, there is a lot of currency volatility around and when that

:23:06.:23:08.

exchange rate is set at the end of this year,

:23:09.:23:11.

on the 31st of December, it inevitably means that our

:23:12.:23:14.

contributions will go up if we just stick with the current,

:23:15.:23:17.

with the current contributions and that,

:23:18.:23:18.

obviously, is a problem that Brexit has posed because,

:23:19.:23:21.

of course, the level of volatility is such that we can't be sure

:23:22.:23:24.

about what our contributions will be.

:23:25.:23:26.

So Patrick, on a point of principle, shouldn't

:23:27.:23:28.

the UK, rather than other member states, make up the rest?

:23:29.:23:31.

What should happen is some of this bloated

:23:32.:23:35.

I mean, Seb says his group voted nor for increases.

:23:36.:23:39.

We voted for cuts at every possible turn, including

:23:40.:23:44.

trying to get an amendment on to cut the salaries,

:23:45.:23:47.

allowance and travel expenses of MEPs, which Mr Short actually...

:23:48.:23:50.

But there are so many wasteful things - youth clubs in Azerbaijan,

:23:51.:23:56.

combating on-line hate speech in the Middle East.

:23:57.:23:58.

This is a bloated organisation that can't pay its bills.

:23:59.:24:01.

I was going to say if you start blaming others for their spending

:24:02.:24:06.

priorities and simply saying that European Union is a bloated budget

:24:07.:24:09.

how on earth do you shift the focus on them to choose one of those

:24:10.:24:14.

options, which is to get us to pay more in our budget contributions?

:24:15.:24:17.

Ultimately, they're not going to share the burden

:24:18.:24:20.

if we treat the European Union in the way

:24:21.:24:23.

I mean you have to work constructively with partners.

:24:24.:24:26.

You have to work as an engaged partner in a single market

:24:27.:24:29.

as you're a member - as we still are, of course.

:24:30.:24:34.

It would seem as an obvious point that if we want their goodwill

:24:35.:24:38.

in the forthcoming negotiations, simply criticising

:24:39.:24:40.

them for their current spending allocations is not going to...

:24:41.:24:42.

There was the recent 1.8 billion more because our economy was doing

:24:43.:24:49.

Ah, final word there from Patrick O'Flynn,

:24:50.:24:55.

That is all for now from all of us here, bye bye.

:24:56.:25:17.

Saturday's weather was full of cloud.

:25:18.:25:18.

Only the lucky few got to see some sunshine.

:25:19.:25:21.

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