Blair reopens budget row with Chirac
At a press conference in London yesterday, the British Prime Minister called for a special summit on the future of the European Union, to be held in the UK this autumn. He said the informal gathering would be a chance "for the leaders to come together to see how Europe can now move forward". Mr Blair and Mr Chirac have been locked in a bitter battle about the EU budget and the wider future of the union. Mr Blair wants to slash the farm subsidies of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and open the EU economy to more competition. Mr Chirac is defending the CAP and many EU leaders believe Mr Blair is trying to impose Thatcherite market reforms on their countries. While Mr Blair has been at pains to insist that he values the "social dimension" of the EU, he has not diluted his call for economic reform.
No comments:
Post a Comment