mr president let us be honest
negotiations on next year's budget collapsed due to this parliament's ambition to acquire more power over the financing of the european union even though those powers are not provided for in the lisbon treaty
such a demand which translates into the proposal for a european tax is and has always been unacceptable to us
there have been threats to block funding to the member states which refuse to agree to parliament's demands
believe me this would be the best news we could give to british and all european taxpayers those who eventually fund both national contributions and a european tax
the auditors have refused to clear ninety-two of the european union's expenditure for two thousand and nine and they estimate that at least gbp six billion should not have been paid out a similar amount to that of last year which has not yet been recovered
blocking funding for those who used eu money irregularly would give the european union enough resources to cover the noble causes that it claims it wants to support
at the same time it would also give the european bureaucracy a certain degree of credibility
but this i fear will never happen
