'We won’t pay,' furious Cameron tells EU over surprise 2.1-billion-euro bill
UK Prime Minister David Cameron vows his coalition government will not to pay an unexpected demand from the European Union
In a vivid display of fury at European Union technocrats, British Prime Minister David Cameron refused to pay a surprise 2.1-billion-euro bill on Friday as EU leaders ordered an urgent review of the calculations used.
Eurosceptics at home branded the EU a “thirsty vampire” for seeking an additional, immediate sum worth a seventh of London’s annual payment following a major statistical review of national incomes. Cameron demanded action from fellow leaders at a summit, calling the sudden bill “completely unacceptable”.
He found some sympathy. Cameron told reporters Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi lambasted “bureaucrats without a heart”, who made it harder to fend off the attacks of Eurosceptics.
“I’m not paying that bill on December 1. If people think I am, they’ve got another thing coming. It is not going to happen.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, which like France is to get a refund in the same exercise, offered understanding for the peremptory way such a hefty demand was made – though she said Cameron did not tell his fellow leaders he would not pay at all.
“He just had concerns about the short deadline,” she said.
But in a show of anger in front of television cameras that some found at odds with a more collegial atmosphere in the summit room, Cameron said: “It’s an appalling way to behave.
“I’m not paying that bill on December 1. If people think I am, they’ve got another thing coming. It is not going to happen.”
