Deprived of British cash EU will be on brink of collapse
THERE is a received wisdom among diehard Remainers that the EU has the upper hand in the negotiations regarding Britain’s exit from the EU. According to this theory, Brexit Secretary David Davis has been reduced to a position of almost kissing the boots of his opposite number Michel Barnier, begging him for whatever access to European markets he might be kind enough to grant us and imploring him to let us off with just a fraction of our ¤100billion bill for leaving the EU.
Just how big a nonsense this is has become clear with the publication of the minutes from a meeting in Brussels last week between Barnier and the House of Lords’ EU select committee. His demand for Britain to pay a bill for the privilege of leaving the EU is delivered not from a position of strength but from one of desperation. He is fearful that the EU will break up when deprived of its second-largest net financial contributor.
As he told the House of Lords committee: “There are thousands of town halls, municipalities, businesses and universities that have undertaken projects on the basis of those undertakings and commitments. If we are to cut 15 per cent or whatever – that is the UK share – there will be an explosion everywhere across the board.”
It is the second time he has used this language. Speaking back in May when the EU suddenly and without any attempt at justification raised its leaving bill from ¤50billion to ¤100billion, he said: “The situation might be explosive if we have to stop programmes. Can you imagine the political problems which might arise?”
WELL, indeed. Just think of all those poor farmers in M Barnier’s native France who, without UK cash, might be deprived of their EU handouts for overgrown pastures and vineyards. Some of them might actually start having to produce some food for a living rather than doing as they do now, simply pocketing money for owning the land itself.
Think, too, of the poor owner of a vegetable chilling plant in Bulgaria who wants a grant to modernise his factory but finds there is no money left in the