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EU Commissioner Lord Hill urges calm on £1.7bn tax bill | EU Commissioner Lord Hill urges calm on £1.7bn tax bill |
(about 1 hour later) | |
New European Commissioner Lord Hill has called for a period of calm in the row about David Cameron's refusal to pay a £1.7bn tax-contribution bill to the EU. | |
In his first broadcast interview since taking the job, he also said the question of the UK's EU membership was a "boil that needs to be lanced". | |
Mr Cameron has said the UK will not pay the EU surcharge by 1 December. | |
Treasury sources said Chancellor George Osborne would continue to demand a cut in the size of the EU's payment demand. | |
In a meeting with EU finance ministers, Mr Osborne will also press for any payment to be delayed or phased in. | |
But a final agreement is not expected to be reached, the BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said. | |
Last month, David Cameron reacted angrily to the bill presented to the government by the EU for £1.7bn (2.1bn euros). | |
'Calm the situation' | 'Calm the situation' |
The bill is calculated to determine how much each member state should contribute in tax, based on how well their individual economy has performed. | |
Lord Hill told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It seems to me that this is one of those classic examples you get from time to time and where something that a group of people think are technical matters suddenly, and in this case for perfectly understandable reasons, become highly political. | |
"The sensible thing now is to try to calm the situation down, and to look at the facts, and to look at a practical solution to the challenges that various member states face." | "The sensible thing now is to try to calm the situation down, and to look at the facts, and to look at a practical solution to the challenges that various member states face." |
Lord Hill, who was appointed as European Commissioner for financial services on 8 October, said a meeting of finance ministers later this week would go some way to finding that "practical solution". | |
In his new role, Lord Hill said he was required to act in the interests of all the EU's 28 states, not just promote UK views. | |
The EU debate in Britain was going through a "lively stage", he said, adding that other countries were having similar debates. | |
He acknowledged that EU institutions could seem "very remote" to some member states. | |
A referendum on EU membership has been promised by the prime minister if the Conservatives win a majority at the next general election. | |
Speaking on the wider issue of whether the UK should remain in the union, Lord Hill said he hoped the country would decide to do so. | Speaking on the wider issue of whether the UK should remain in the union, Lord Hill said he hoped the country would decide to do so. |
"My view is that on the back of a reform process, Britain would want to choose to stay in the EU," he said. | |
"Obviously that's a choice for the people of Britain, there's democratic process to go through if we have that referendum. But I think it is good to address that question, I think there is a boil that needs to be lanced." | "Obviously that's a choice for the people of Britain, there's democratic process to go through if we have that referendum. But I think it is good to address that question, I think there is a boil that needs to be lanced." |
Lord Hill's career | Lord Hill's career |