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UK EU budget deal not tight enough: Reinfeldt

Published: 18 Dec 10 11:53 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/30932/20101218/

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said that he would not support Britain's drive to restrict EU spending, saying it was not far-reaching enough, Sveriges Radio (SR) reported on Friday.

"We see [the initiative] as a bit unclear and from Sweden's perspective, not budget-restrictive enough," Reinfeldt said of a text hammered out by Britain, France and Germany, among others, stating their stance against overspending in the bloc to be presented Saturday.

Ahead of tough budget negotiations next year, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Friday German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other unnamed partners will publish a text Saturday stating their stance against overspending.

Finland and the Netherlands are joining that declaration, said Finnish President Mari Kiviniemi.

After twisting the parliament's arm into submission to limit the 2011 budget to a 2.9 percent increase to €126.5 billion ($166.68 million) -- instead of a six percent rise -- Cameron said the bloc's "big three" wanted to do "even better" in 2012 and 2013.

For the 27-nation bloc's 2014-2020 budgetary period, the leaders will call for a real-terms freeze, meaning it could not rise above inflation, he said.

"This is an attempt by a group of countries to emphasise that the EU's budget cannot grow too much. Our opinion is that even the possibility for budget growth the signing countries open for goes too far," Reinfeldt told SR.

Asked if this meant Sweden wanted deeper budget cuts, he said, "It is rather that we don't want (the budget) to grow as much as their description could entail."

AFP/The Local (news@thelocal.se)

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12:25 December 18, 2010 by Nemesis
So Reinfeldt has his orders from the US to be a malcontent towards all Europeans, now.

It is embarrassing enough that he is following orders on Assange.
13:09 December 18, 2010 by byke
Well I am sure Reinfeldt's stance will have a huge effect on the other members.
01:28 December 19, 2010 by ghostof911
Why are comments turned off for this story: Sweden bomber's father-in-law 'not sad' for death?

Is The Local his being censored? Are the people of Sweden only allowed to know what certain authorities want them to know?

Is it because the investigation is being controlled by the FBI?

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/12/13/fbi-sends-small-team-investigators-stockholm/

It seems odd that the 28 year old Taimour Abdulwahab never heard of a remote-controlled device.
08:04 December 19, 2010 by cmbsweden
While I think most of Sweden's finance stances are pretty common sense, I wonder how they reconcile that with the amount of taxpayer money spent on the royal wedding, the remodeling of the royal castle, and the money spent on the Assange thing....seems a bit contradictory to me........
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