A combative British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday that he had been right to veto a proposed EU budget deal, insisting the bloc could not afford to wait a decade to begin reforms that will meet global challenges.
Deflecting blame for the failure of a rancorous EU summit to agree a deal, he told parliament it "made no sense" for Europe to spend seven times more on farm subsidies as on research and development, science and technology.
"This isn't a budget fit for purpose in the 21st century," he added, in his first accounting to parliament of the summit that ended in the early hours of Saturday.
"The rise of China, India and the other Asian economies is creating a wholly new economic environment," Blair told parliament.
If Britain accepted the proposed 2007-2013 EU budget, it would have to wait until 2014 to correct matters.
"Europe just cannot wait 10 years or more for the change necessary."
His comments came as he prepares Thursday to return to Brussels to present his vision for the 25-nation European Union before Britain takes the six-month rotating presidency.
The summit collapsed over Blair's refusal to give up Britain's cherished EU budget rebate without a thorough rethink of the way the EU spends taxpayers' money, notably via the Common Agricultural Policy (PAC) which proportionately benefits French farmers the most.
With France and Germany refusing to renegotiate CAP spending - Blair said in parliament that the CAP system, which accounts for 40 percent of the current budget, was Paris's "own rebate" - Britain stuck to its guns, scuppering any chance of an accord.
The need for the rebate only arose because of a "distortion" of the budget caused by the CAP, he said.
"Our position was not to refuse any change to the rebate, to rule out a discussion, or to disown responsibility to pay for the enlargement of Europe we support passionately. On the contrary, I made clear we should deal with both anomalies, the rebate and the CAP."
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