Thursday, January 19, 2006

Double booking in Brussels?

Rumours reach my ears that people are beginning to question the possible existence of two sets of figures held by the European Commission concerning the amount of contributions paid by member states to the EU budget. First it is suggested that there is a set that is presented to the public, which is massaged at the request of National governments to either inflate or deflate the amounts paid in by individual nations for public consumption at home. Meanwhile the Commission holds another set of figures which are accurate and are the basis for discussion at the European Council meetings in Brussels.
What is more the concerns are being raised by Dutch nationals, which might suggest that the Dutch government is inflating the figures to get a sympathy vote at home.

2 comments:

The Aunt said...

Which set of figures shows that the Member States have coughed up the contributions they owe to the EU staff pension plan? Because they haven't. It remains owing.

So this wouldn't surprise me at all.

Gawain Towler said...

My dear Aunt,
Neither I suspect, that would be red rag to the populist bull wouldn't it.
Oh see you this evening, should be fun

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