UK PM Cameron Balks At EU Payment Demand

An European Union summit has been interrupted by a demonstratively angry British Prime Minister David Cameron, who rejected a "sudden" request that London pay billions more into the bloc's budget.

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday vehemently dismissed a request from the European Union for an additional 2.1-billion-euro payment into the bloc's coffers after a revision of official data showed the United Kingdom's economy was thriving.



"We are not suddenly going to get our checkbook and write a check for 2 billion euros. It's not going to happen," Cameron said on the second day of an EU summit in Brussels, adding that the surcharge was an unfair way to treat one of the bloc's biggest contributors



"I'm not against readjustments … but this is completely unacceptable," he said.







The charge stemmed from a revision of updated figures for Britain's gross national income. EU members pay into the bloc's budget according to the strength of their respective economies. In the past, when the UK economy was shrinking, London received money back. Now that its economy is recovering, its contribution has been adjusted upwards.



An EU official called the revision a "technical matter" and said it came up every year.



But the request for more money comes at an inopportune time for Prime Minister Cameron, who faces staunch resistance at home to the 28-member bloc by euroskeptic political parties.



"The EU is like a thirsty vampire feasting on UK taxpayers' blood," said Nigel Farage, head of the UK Independence Party, which opposes Britain's EU membership.



Eager to defuse the situation, EU leaders agreed to hold an emergency meeting between finance ministers and the European Commission in the coming weeks.



Other countries, including the Netherlands, Finland and even bailed-out Greece and Ireland were also asked to pony up additional funds into the EU budget, while France and Germany are set to receive money back as their economies struggle to recover.



nz/cjc (dpa, Reuters, AP, AFP)