is running out of money.
Either it takes some hard
decisions for its future in the next few months, or it
will start to rot away, starved of the cash to keep
running. That would be a tragedy for Britain and for
Europe. It must not happen. But the Prime Minister
has made clear that she will only consider recommending
to Parliament an increase in the resources available to
the Community if:
first, decisions are taken to control agricultural
and other expenditure;
second, a fair and lasting solution is achieved to
the problem of budgetary imbalances.
Both conditions are essential if we are to create a
sound basis for future Community development.
As
It is that finance
regards budgetary discipline, the case is clear. The
hard lesson must be learned in Europe, as it has been
learned in our domestic economies.
must determine expenditure, and not the other way
about. Without strict discipline, policies are
demand-driven. That is no way to run a rail-road.
We can see the dangers in the Common Agricultural
Policy. Farm spending has soared out of control, up
almost 30% last year. The milk regime alone costs more
than £1 million a working hour to finance. The
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