Browse content similar to 28/10/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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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, | :06:06. | :06:07. | |
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. |