Brussels commissioner Olli Rehn insisted the the EU could override the PM's veto
Tuesday December 13,2011
By Macer Hall Political Editor
BRITAIN last night faced a revenge attack for David Cameron’s EU snub when a senior Brussels bureaucrat promised a new deluge of damaging red tape on UK business.
European economics commissioner Olli Rehn insisted that the EU could override the Prime Minister’s veto to slap more regulation on the City of London.
And he vowed that Brussels would ignore Mr Cameron’s bid to protect British finance and British jobs.
Finnish-born Mr Rehn said: “If this move was intended to prevent bankers and financial corporations in the City from being regulated, that is not going to happen. We must all draw lessons from the financial crisis and that goes for the financial sector as well.”
In a further threat, the commissioner added: “The UK’s excessive deficit and debt will be the subject of surveillance like other member states, even if the enforcement mechanism mostly applies to the euro-area member states.”
The UK’s excessive deficit and debt will be the subject of surveillance like other member states
Olli Rehn,
His remarks were being seen last night as the opening salvo in a new offensive by Brussels chiefs to isolate and bully Britain as punishment for Mr Cameron’s defiant stand against a further EU power grab.
And they provoked outrage among Tory MPs last night following fears that more EU tax and regulation on the City could cost up to 500,000 jobs across the UK.
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Conservative MP Douglas Carswell said: “This unelected commissioner has helpfully reminded us exactly why we need to be outside the new fiscal union.
“Britain needs to be outside the EU, like Switzerland, to keep our banks and other financial institutions outside the clutches of bureaucrats like Mr Rehn.
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“If he is such an economic genius, why is the continent that he helps to preside over heading down a debt vortex? He should be worrying about his own maths, not ours.”
Stephen Booth, of the Euro-sceptic think tank Open Europe, said: “The threat of EU regulation on the City of London remains.
“The British Government must continue to push to prevent any further unnecessary and unwanted regulation from Brussels.”
Mr Rehn yesterday spoke of his “regret” that Britain was refusing to join the new “fiscal union” economic bloc championed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The Prime Minister used Britain’s veto at a summit in Brussels to reject EU treaty changes to give Brussels sweeping new economic powers that could hit the City. He was given a massive cheer by Tory MPs at Westminster yesterday for his stand.
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But Mr Rehn said: “I regret very much that the United Kingdom was not willing to join the new fiscal compact, as much for the sake of Europe and its crisis response as for the sake of British citizens and their perspectives.”
He went on: “We want a strong and constructive Britain in Europe, and we want Britain to be at the centre of Europe and not on the sidelines.”
Mr Rehn was announcing the coming into force tomorrow of a so-called “six-pack” of tougher economic monitoring and surveillance on all European economies that the British Government has backed.
The commissioner went on to claim that the new “fiscal compact” agreed between the other 26 members of the EU but excluding Britain was “a major milestone in Europe’s economic governance”.
And he insisted that bypassing Britain’s veto would be “bold, effective and legally viable”.
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He went on: “Of course, we would rather have had a treaty of 27 and not only 26.
“I regret that we could not, but we now have this fiscal compact of 26, which marks another step in the economic discipline of the European Union.”
Mr Cameron had claimed that the deal without the UK lacked the necessary authority of EU institutional backing, including the Commission to implement the new measures and the European Court of Justice to enforce them.
But Mr Rehn insisted: “I am happy that the role of the institutions was recognised and reinforced. The speculation of some media that the treaty is not enforceable is unfounded.
“The result we got at the summit was better than some suggested – bold, effective and legally viable.”
Further concerns of more meddling from Brussels were raised yesterday when business chiefs hit out at plans to slap new regulations on the pensions industry.
A survey by the Confederation of British Industry and financial firm Towers Watson found widespread fears among firms that the red tape would massively increase costs and damage job creation.
David Cameron chose to veto the EU Treaty
More than two-thirds (69 per cent) of businesses interviewed in the survey were concerned about greater restriction on pension fund deficits in an overhaul being planned by the EU.
Katja Hall, chief policy director of the CBI, said: “Businesses remain committed to providing good-quality pensions to help their workforce plan for retirement, and understand the benefits this brings the company as well as its staff.
“But employers’ big concern about defined benefit pensions is no longer just around rising contributions.
“Large and unpredictable liabilities are also harming firms’ ability both to attract investment to grow the business or to restructure to cope with difficult times.
“What is completely unacceptable is Brussels’ plan to impose further costs on firms operating defined benefit pensions at a time like this, when the protection in place has already proven itself during the economic crisis.
“We have told the EU, trade unions have told the EU, the pension funds have told the EU. So far they have refused to listen.”
Also On Express.co.uk
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/289613/EU-plots-revenge-against-Britain
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