Brexit to leave 20 bn euro hole in EU budget, commissioner saysJune 28, 2017 - 17:03 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Britain's withdrawal from the European Union could leave the remaining 27 countries with a 20-billion-euro hole in their budget to fill, a commissioner said Wednesday, June 28, AFP reports. EU Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, of Germany, called on the bloc to improve the efficiency of its spending in the wake of Brexit in March 2019. "We won't have the UK with us any more, but they were net payers despite the Thatcher rebate, so we will have a gap of 10 to 11 billion euros a year," Oettinger told a press conference as he unveiled the commission's proposals for the budget. Under late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher Britain secured an annual rebate on its budget contribution worth more than three billion euros. Oettinger wrote separately in a blog on the proposals that "at the same time we need to finance new tasks such as defence, internal security... The total gap could therefore be up to twice as much." The EU's budget in 2017 was 157.9 billion euros. The German commissioner said that the EU could, after Britain leaves, save money by eliminating all rebates enjoyed by a number of other countries. As part of Brexit negotiations that began this month, the EU 27 are demanding that Britain pay an exit bill of up to 100 billion euros to honour commitments made while it was a member. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |