UK budget rebate under renewed fire

The UK must be prepared to give up its annual rebate from the EU budget - worth 4.6 billion euro - according to Gerrit Zalm, Dutch finance minister and head of the EU finance ministers' Council.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Zalm said, "Even in Britain people can understand if countries are in the same position but get different treatment, that is something which can't be prolonged for ever".

The UK secured the rebate in 1984 arguing that it received too little fu...