Live Updates

Business

Judge Reverses $105 Million Trade Secrets Verdict Against Ford

May 01,2023 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

On Monday, a federal judge in Detroit overturned a jury verdict that ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay Versata Software In...

Treasury Releases Information on Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax

Feb 19,2023 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

Today the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released information on the Corporate...

El Real Madrid vuelve a entrenar

May 11,2020 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

  Los jugadores del Real Madrid volvieron este lunes al trabajo tras pasar la pasada semana las pruebas de detección ...

Guatemala civil war film vies for Belgian 'Oscar'

Feb 01,2020 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

In Belgium's version of the Oscars this weekend, a film about Guatemala's civil war is an unusual nominee -- telling a...

Virtual Facebook currency faces real-world resistance

Jun 21,2019 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

If Facebook's new cryptocurrency should resonate anywhere it should be India, where the social media giant has more th...

UK opposition calls for election or second referendum on Brexit deal

May 30,2019 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

The leader of Britain's main opposition Labour party Jeremy Corbyn -- criticised for failing to take a clear position ...

The request was part of a general message from the EU's executive telling member states to quickly sort out the bloc's 2021-2027 long-term budget plan so its contours are fixed by the end of the year.

Up to now Britain, the EU's second-biggest economy, got a hefty rebate on its contributions to the bloc's budget under a concession won in 1984, five years after then UK leader Margaret Thatcher famously demanded "I want my money back."

Similar refunds were also offered to other wealthier EU states, resulting in complicated budget haggling and calculations. Consequently those states pay proportionally less in net terms than some poorer ones.

The Commission has called the rebate system "opaque" and "skewed".

A European summit next week was meant to tackle the issue of the long-term budget, known as the MFF, for "multiannual financial framework".

But Brexit now looks certain to suck up all the air in the room.

And if Britain leaves by an October 31 deadline, as London wants, then there will be less money in the pot -- and five countries including Germany are against having to dig too deep to help make up the shortfall.

"The current challenges are considerable and Europe cannot allow itself to delay adopting its long-term budget," the EU budget commissioner, Guenther Oettinger, told a media briefing.

- The Brexit gap -

Member states have already been intensely negotiating since mid-2018 on the basis of a Commission proposal calling for a multi-year budget of 1.3 trillion euros ($1.4-trillion) .

That equates to each member state contributing 1.114 percent of its gross national income (GNI).

At that level, it would cover only half the budget gap left by Britain's absence. The other half of the missing British contribution is meant to come from cuts to EU spending.

Oettinger said that the budget gap left by Brexit would be 12 billion euros the first year, then 84 billion over the following seven years.

But the five frugal countries want the contribution capped at 1.0 percent of GNI, Austria's finance minister, Eduard Mueller, said before a budget meeting in Luxembourg.

That would leave far less money for "new priorities" the EU wants to finance, such as common defence and migration, unless spending is drastically cut on traditional outlays such as building infrastructure in poorer member states and supporting agriculture.

Oettinger said that, "at 1.0 percent, we won't make it".

Some ideas for new revenue streams include tapping the carbon trading scheme or creating a tax on non-recyclable plastics.

The European Parliament has expressed concerns that the budget situation could become even more complicated if the new Commission taking office next month announces costly new initiatives, notably on tackling climate change.afp

Latest News

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Life

Life

EU seeks better coordination to tackle coronavirus

Feb 13,2020

European Union nations will on Thursday (Feb 13) discuss ways to increase cooperation in a bid to tackle...

Read more

Education

Returning Clijsters targets Dubai for eagerly-awaited comeback

Feb 10,2020 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

Four-time Grand Slam winner Kim Clijsters announced Sunday she will return after seven years in retirement at the WTA ...

La Liga chief concerned reforms will hasten growing financial gulf

Jan 21,2020 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

La Liga president Javier Tebas has warned Europe's top clubs of the destabilising effect seeking further riches throug...

Wilmots resigns as Iran coach

Dec 06,2019 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

Belgian Marc Wilmots announced he was leaving his position as coach of Iran after six matches in charge which included...

Bucharest set for Euro 2020 draw as tournament enters new territory

Nov 30,2019 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

Bucharest hosts the draw for Euro 2020 on Saturday with the fates of World Cup holders France and reigning European ch...

Juventus seek 300m euros boost to keep up with European rivals

Oct 25,2019 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

Juventus president Andrea Agnelli on Thursday asked the club’s shareholders to approve a 300 million euro ($333 mill...

Tour de France star Groenwegen sticking with Jumbo

Oct 22,2019 NYCourier - avatar NYCourier

Sprinter Dylan Groenewegen has extended his stay with up-and-coming Dutch cycling team Jumbo-Visma intil 2023, the rid...