EU: The prospects for agreement on a new EU budget in December receded yesterday as several EU foreign ministers clashed bitterly with British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, over the current EU presidency's handling of the negotiations.
A group of 20 member states are opposing attempts by Britain to radically reform the way the EU spends its annual budget and used an EU foreign ministers meeting yesterday to express their frustration at the substance and slow pace of negotiations.
"The British presidency is going to have to make a choice: either it proposes in the coming days a balanced package including a fair sharing of the costs of enlargement, or it will condemn us to failure, which would be a heavy responsibility," said French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, on the fringes of the meeting in Brussels.
Diplomats said the Belgian foreign minister Karel de Gucht described the discussions as "pointless" and a "waste of time" while Irish foreign minister Dermot Ahern said he thought it would now be "very difficult to reach a deal" on the budget in December.
A group of 20 member-states favour sticking close to a compromise text agreed by the previous EU president Luxembourg in June. However, Mr Straw reiterated his opposition to that proposal and said Britain would not accept a cut in its annual rebate from the EU without a corresponding reform to the CAP system of farm subsidies.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso increased the pressure on Britain, warning that future enlargements of the EU would not be possible if member-states could not finance the union as it is now. Budget commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite said that the British decision not to put new ideas up for discussion before December would leave too little time for a proper analysis of proposals.
Mr Straw said it was normal to leave it until close to the end of a process to provide new proposals and Britain would offer these at before a meeting on December 7th.
Meanwhile, foreign ministers approved a new EU police mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt and offer advice to Palestinian border staff. The Irish Government said that it would provide €200,000 in funding for the border assistance mission and it would contribute at least one member of the Garda to a new EU police and training mission in the Palestinian Territories.
Earlier EU defence ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to liberalise their defence procurement policies and consider buying military equipment from firms outside their own jurisdictions.
All member -states, except Denmark agreed to a voluntary code which asks governments to give more access to military contracts to firms based in other EU states rather than relying purely on national arms suppliers.