Why the UK rebate should be scrapped

There are several good arguments against the UK rebate.

The first is that it is obsolete. The rebate was a response to the particular situation of the UK during its first years of membership. The UK would have paid a disproportionate amount into the Community’s coffers, as a result mainly of its low receipt of agricultural spending, the predominant category of outlays at that time.

But the structure of the EU budget has changed since. The importance of agricultural spending has ...