Marta Andreasen, on behalf of the EFD Group. – Mr President, the European Parliament and the Commission’s demand for a 5% increase for the 2012 budget was ridiculous, but the Council’s acceptance of a real 2% rise is a slap in the face for taxpayers in Europe. In a doomed pursuit of its Lisbon agenda, the EU has squandered more than one trillion euro of taxpayers’ money. I say the number again: one trillion euro.

Funds are given to the Commission which fails to properly control their use, and yet it always comes back to us for more. The present economic and financial situation in Europe is, without a doubt, a reflection of the abject failure in the use of funds. While this wasteful spree goes on in Brussels, Mr Osborne in the UK has announced further budget cuts.

So I tell the government in the UK today: no, Mr Hague, the EU budget is not under control; no, Mr Cameron, a 2% rise is not a freeze. For goodness sake, stop sending more British taxpayers’ money to the European Union.