EU Budget (Surcharge) Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: HM Treasury
Monday 10th November 2014

(9 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
George Osborne Portrait Mr Osborne
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

The first and kindest cut of all was closing down the euro preparations unit, which I discovered in the Treasury on coming to office.

Luciana Berger Portrait Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)
- Hansard - -

I know that the Chancellor did not want to answer the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Mr Roy), but I will try again. Can he please name one EU Finance Minister who supports his version of events?

George Osborne Portrait Mr Osborne
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

All 28 countries, and therefore 27 other Finance Ministers, agreed to our plan, and the plan put forward by other member states, to change the rules so that we do not have to pay on 1 December, to enable us to delay payment, to ensure that no interest will be paid during that delay, to ensure that any errors in the accounts will be rectified and that we will be compensated for them next year, and to ensure that this never happens again. We got that coalition of support around the table. The discussions on the rebate, as I am sure the hon. Lady knows, happen between the UK and the European Commission.