0 euro more for the budget of the European Defense Agency in 2013

(BRUSSELS2) The British maintained their veto on Monday (November 19) to any increase in the budget of the European Defense Agency, even by simply taking inflation into account. This will therefore be renewed in the same way for next year, up to 30,4 million euros (without taking inflation into account), as announced (on the B2 club).

25 for, 1 no = No

The budget must, in fact, be decided unanimously. All states agreed to take inflation into account, all but one (the United Kingdom). And no alternative solution seemed to emerge. In the absence of an agreement, the budget would have had to be renewed by provisional twelfths, on the same basis, which would have been " even more damaging a diplomat involved in this discussion explained to B2. This would have the " worst possible scenario confirmed Claude-France Arnould, the director of the Agency during the final press conference. And " no compromise could be found, it is the law of unanimity ". In fact, it was the British position that prevailed. And the other members of the Agency had to bow.

Telescoping

The gap between the two proposals was small; around 100.000 euros more for the British and this sum could quite easily have been distributed among the other members. But at the time of a more general discussion on the future budgetary framework for 2014-2020, which promises to be very difficult at the end of the week (at the special summit convened on 22 and 23 November), any discussion on another distribution of this increase would have been likened to a new "British cheque", which could have weakened the negotiation.