SenSent to the Solihull Times and Sutton Coldfield News
During summer, behind the scenes, the EU’s draft
budget for 2009 was engineered, with minimum time for
genuine scrutiny.
‘Highlights’: The budget is £116 billion,
3.15% above last year. Communications budget (promoting
itself) is £171.6m, small beer compared to the £1billion
for organisations actively promoting European integration
including the European Movement and many others.
The lion's share goes to the European Commission, £95
billion. Of this, £35.75 billion goes to Agriculture
and Fisheries. (The UK pays £374m in agricultural
levies, more than any other member) £500m for fisheries
initiatives, purchasing International Fishing Agreements
with non-EU countries, allowing Spanish and Portuguese
fishermen to plunder the world’s waters. Usually
governments pocket this money leaving local fishermen,
who can’t possibly compete with sophisticated European
competitors, without compensation.
Administration and EU integration budget gets a 5% increase
to £64.2 billion, similar rises to the last three
years. The real cost of administration is carefully hidden
by the creation of a series of quangos, budgeted separately.
Organisations like the European Agency for Health & Safety
at Work (£10.83m) and the European Foods Safety
Agency (£58.3m). Too many others to list.
The generous 2009 EU staff pensions contribution is £970m.
The EU budget also includes measures that are technically
illegal as the Lisbon Treaty has yet to be ratified and
has been rejected by the people of Ireland.
Finally, the budget for the European Parliament, Brussels
and Strasbourg, is £1.25 billion. These figures
have to be approved but only UKIP will vote against,
so smile!
t to the Solihull Times and Sutton Coldfield News
The EU saved between 3 and 4 million euros when in August
a 10 tonne portion of ceiling collapsed over the UKIP
area of the plenary chamber in Strasbourg. A French MEP
claims 300 people could have died if it had fallen during
a session. A UKIP official said “It was not us!”
In 1992 the EU Summit, chaired by John Major, legally
confirmed the use of the Strasbourg parliament building
twelve times a year, giving France a veto over its closure.
The beautiful city of Strasbourg suffered a financial
blow due to this collapse but the travelling circus will
return in October to fill all the hotel rooms, bars and
restaurants.
Each month this circus of 784 MEPs (clowns?) and about
4000 staff (jugglers?) have to find their way there (not
easy) to a building not used for 317 days in a year.
Each MEP has an official visitors’ quota of 100
per year, each receives a subsidy on visiting the parliament.
( more than 270 euros to visit Strasbourg from here.)
If you and a friend are interested in visiting (both
over 14 years and from this area) please write to the
editor. A draw on 25 October 2008 will select a pair
to visit the Strasbourg parliament on 25 March 2009 as
my visitors, the pair will be given 540 + euros in total
on inspecting the parliament and listening to an explanation.
Transport and accommodation to be organised by the visitors
but I can give suggestions/alternatives.
Mike Nattrass West Midlands UKIP MEP
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