France warns Britain over EU budget cuts demands

French President Francois Hollande has slammed Britain for its continuous demands of drastic cuts to the European Union (EU) budget, saying that countries like Britain could jeopardize the 27-nation bloc.
Speaking at the European parliament yesterday, Hollande said the 2014-2020 EU budget of some €1 trillion was open to some savings but insisted that leaders should not compromise innovation and development.

“Rebates must stop rising, and in the future the EU will need its own [financial] resources,” said Hollande.

“A compromise is possible, but it must be reasonable and therefore we will have to reason with those who want to cut the EU budget beyond what is possible to accept.”

This comes as British MPs are demanding a real-term cut to the current EU budget for 2007-2013, which also amounts to €1trillion.

Earlier in January, Prime Minster David Cameron pledged to hold an in-out vote on Britain’s future relationship with the EU during the early part of the next parliament, by the end of 2017 at the latest, if his Conservative party wins the 2015 general election.