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UK fined for EU flag breaches
Thursday, 8th July 2010
Brussels has fined Britain more than £150million for failing to display the EU flag on a string of projects part-funded by Europe.
UKIP leading spokesman Nigel Farage called the fines an"outrage".
He said: "The ERDF is using British taxpayers’ money to tell us what a great job the EU is doing. It is a rotten deal for Britain – and in return we have to plaster the country in horrible blue flags.’
Several schemes were also penalised for failing to use the flag on their letterheads.
The fines relate to £3.8billion given to the UK by the European Regional Development Fund over a seven-year period.
The fund has contributed to dozens of projects including the Eden Project, in Cornwall, the Millennium Bridge, in Gateshead, and the redevelopment of Liverpool’s King’s Dock.
Funding from the ERDF usually has to be matched pound for pound by Government cash.
Britain is a net contributor to the EU budget and critics have long complained that ERDF funding is essentially recycled taxpayers’ money.
This year the UK will contribute £6.4billion more to Brussels than it receives back.
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