LONDON
The British prime minister has told lawmakers Monday that the U.K. would not pay the $2.7 billion demanded by the European Union adding that the imposed December 1st deadline was “unacceptable.”
The figure was revealed last week after a recalculation of contributions, based on figures compiled by the EU statistical agency, Eurostat, left the U.K., Italy and the Netherlands with extra bills while Germany and France were set to receive a rebate.
Cameron in a statement to the British parliament Monday said, "Britain will not be paying the 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) to anyone on December 1st and we reject this scale of payment. We will be challenging this in every way possible."
He said that while contributions for EU members to vary was not an uncommon phenomenon, “no one was expecting a change on this scale.”
Eurostat had highlighted the discrepancy between what the U.K. had been expected to pay and what it should be contributing stating that the country’s economic recovery had proved better and faster than its European counterparts.
Cameron said that it was, “simply not acceptable for the EU to make these kinds of demands and to do so in such a fast-track process… It's not just small change but a vast amount.”
Jacek Dominik, the EU Budget Commissioner, said the U.K. government had had "two formal possibilities to react" and that "at none of those meetings" had it expressed "any concern".
"We all agree on the methodology. Never in the past was there a situation that such a decision was changed (…) because one of the member states has contested and it would be extremely difficult to do it," Dominik said during a press briefing in Brussels.
“If you open this act for future negotiations you open up a Pandora's box,” he warned.
This year the U.K. is set to contribute $13.9 billion to the European Union budget.
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